Legislation to Watch: Abolishing Life Without Parole

March 26, 2019

Bail, Criminal Justice Reform, Criminal Law, LWOP, Racial Justice

By Renna Ayyash

Seeking to continue the success of last session’s Criminal Justice Reform Act, St. 2018, c. 69, a number of currently proposed legislative bills aim to reprioritize rehabilitation, rather than punishment, in the Massachusetts’s prison system. The specific focus of this entry will be on An Act to Reduce Mass Incarceration, S.D. 533/H.D. 154, which would abolish the sentence of life without parole (LWOP), a sentence more than one in ten Massachusetts’ prisoners are serving. Ashley Nellis, Still Life: America’s Increasing Use of Life and Long-Term Sentences, The Sentencing Project (May 3, 2017). As this article hopes to illustrate, this proposed bill should be seriously considered for both pecuniary and financial reasons . . .

Northeastern University Law Review

January 10, 2018

Bail, Criminal Law, Massachusetts, Sentencing

The State of Bail in Massachusetts Following the Brangan Decision

Northeastern University Law Review

January 10, 2018

Bail, Criminal Law, Massachusetts, Sentencing

By M. Leonard

Bail sentencing that does not consider the financial ability of the defendant is unjust. “More than 60% across the country have not been convicted of any crime; “9 in 10 of those people are” detained solely for their inability to make bail. Cherise Fanno Burdeen, The Dangerous Domino Effect of Not Making Bail, The Atlantic (April 12, 2016). Massachusetts has long been active in incarcerating people merely for their inability to make bail, thus advocates for bail reform were excited when on August 25, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Brangan v. Commonwealth that judges must consider a defendant’s financial ability before setting a bail amount . . .