The Taunton Gazette reports that, “House and Senate negotiators reached a deal Tuesday on sentencing reforms for juvenile murderers to establish a three-tiered system for parole eligibility after state and federal courts struck down life sentences without parole as unconstitutional.
A six-member panel filed a compromise bill (H 4307) on Tuesday afternoon that would make juveniles – aged 14 to 17 – convicted of first degree murder eligible for parole are serving 20 to 30 years of their life sentence in prison.
In cases involving premeditation, juveniles would face 25 years to 30 years in prison before becoming parole eligible or a minimum of 30 years in murders with “extreme atrocity or cruelty.”
“It reflects a compromise and the diversity of views in both bodies and I think it’s a reasonable place to be,” said Sen. William Brownsberger, a Belmont Democrat and Senate chair of the Judiciary Committee, who led negotiations for the Senate.