Crime & Safety

'Three Strikes' Bill One Step Closer to Law

The Massachusetts legislature overwhelmingly approved the bill this week.

A bill that toughens sentences for violent repeat-offenders passed the Senate today after having been overwhelmingly in the House Wednesday evening. 

The so-called "three-strikes" law eliminates parole for someone convicted three times of one of 40 or so violent crimes, with at least one conviction having carried a minimum three-year prison term. It passed the House with a vote of 139-14. In the Senate, it passed 31-7.

The bill heads to Gov. Deval Patrick's desk, where he has until July 31 to act on it.

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“Today the Senate has taken important and decisive action to protect public safety and ensure that repeat violent felons have no opportunity for parole,” Minority Leader Senator Bruce E. Tarr said in a statement after the Senate vote. “We are sending to the governor’s desk a balanced bill which reforms sentencing for non-violent drug offenders, ensures transparency and accountability for the parole board, and guarantees that those sentenced to multiple terms of life will serve a real life sentence. It is time for these reasonable and critical changes to become law.”

In the House, both Rep. Torrisi and Rep. Jim Lyons voted in favor of the bill.

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"This legislation has been a long time in the making," Lyons said. "The ultimate responsibility of the legislature is to protect our citizens. The fact that violent criminals have been allowed back on our streets to commit further violent crimes is outrageous. It is my hope that this legislation will keep these violent criminals behind bars."

The movement to pass the law was fueled, in part, by outrage over two crimes. In one, In the other crime more associated with the law, sometimes dubbed "Melissa's Law," 27-year-old Jamaica Plain schoolteacher Melissa Gosule was murdered in 1999 after being raped and murdered by a felon who had 27 previous convictions. Gosule grew up in Randolph.

"It is imperative that the governor does not hesitate in signing this long overdue legislation into law,” Torrisi said.  “This legislation, along with the funding we were able to secure in the FY 2013 budget for community policing, Shannon grants as well as youth violence prevention, makes great strides in ensuring the safety and security of our neighborhoods.”

While cracking down on violent criminals, the bill passed Wednesday eases mandatory sentencing on nonviolent drug offenses, in part to take the strain off overcrowded prisons. It also reduces the size of school zones, inside which drug activity carries a larger penalty, since most urban areas fall largely within these zones.


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