June 3, 2004 |
2004-R-0488 | |
2004 CHANGES TO MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES | ||
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By: Christopher Reinhart, Associate Attorney | ||
You asked whether the legislature made any changes to the law on mandatory minimum sentences this year.
SUMMARY
The legislature did not change the law on mandatory minimum sentences this year. It did, however, repeal and then reinstate existing law that allows judges to depart from certain mandatory sentences. It also required a study of mandatory minimum sentences.
As taken up by the House of Representative, sHB 5211 would have (1) repealed the existing statute allowing departure from mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug crimes and (2) incorporated the same provisions in a new section that allowed departures from mandatory minimum sentences for several other crimes. During the debate, the House adopted House Amendment “D. ” This amendment deleted the section of the bill allowing departures from mandatory minimum sentences, but did not reinstate the existing statute. The bill passed the House and Senate in this form and became PA 04-234. The legislature later amended PA 04-234 to reinstate the existing law when it adopted PA 04-257 (§ 136). Neither act has been signed into law yet.
The legislature also required the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee (LPRIC) to study the:
1. impact of laws requiring mandatory minimum sentences on the demand for prison beds,
2. actual versus intended impact of mandatory minimum sentences on the state’s overall sentencing policy, and
3. estimated cost of mandatory minimum sentences and proposed sentencing changes.
LPRIC must submit its findings and recommendations to the Judiciary Committee by January 1, 2006 (PA 04-234, § 22).
EXISTING LAW ON DEPARTURE FROM CERTAIN MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES
The law allows judges to impose less than the law’s mandatory minimum sentence on some drug felons. They can do so when no one was hurt during the crime and the defendant (1) did not use or attempt or threaten to use physical force; (2) was unarmed; and (3) did not use, threaten to use, or suggest that he had a deadly weapon (such as a gun or knife) or other instrument that could cause death or serious injury.
Defendants must show good cause and can invoke the act’s provisions only once. Judges must state at sentencing hearings their reasons for (1) imposing the sentence and (2) departing from the mandatory minimum.
The law covers:
1. manufacture or sale of drugs and related crimes by a person who is not drug-dependent;
2. manufacture or sale of drugs within 1,500 feet of elementary or high schools, public housing, or day care centers;
3. use, possession, or delivery of drug paraphernalia within 1,500 feet of a school by a non-student; and
4. drug possession within 1,500 feet of a school (CGS § 21a-283a).
CR: ro