Latest news with #mandatorysentencing
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rep. Roy offers compromise on minimum mandatory prison for drug crimes
A key House committee endorsed minimum mandatory prison terms for drug sellers who cause death or possess significant amounts of fentanyl, but with an escape hatch that would let a judge issue a different, lesser punishment if an individual offender met several qualifying conditions. House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee Chairman Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, told his panel he spent weeks fine-tuning his proposal under one package combining the two Senate bills that are top priorities of Gov. Kelly Ayotte: • Fentanyl possession (SB 14): This would impose at least a 3½- year prison term for anyone having at least 20 grams of fentanyl and a seven-year minimum for someone caught with at least 50 grams and, • Death resulting (SB 15): Anyone caught selling drugs known to have caused the death of another would face at least 10 years in prison with a term of up to life behind bars. Roy said he started out knowing full well about the long-held skepticism of the House of Representatives to such bills. 'Many of us on both sides of the aisle are not big fans of minimum mandatory (bills),' Roy began. 'We are all aware of many studies that conclude they are not quite effective in reducing crime.' But Roy said the devastation of fentanyl that fueled New Hampshire's opioid epidemic made him determined to find some compromise language. 'We do know that fentanyl is destroying so many lives in our state and people bringing in this poison into our state have to be sent a message that we are done playing,' Roy said. Roy's amendment would allow a judge to hand down a different punishment if that offender: • Had no recent record: No prior conviction for violent felonies or similar drug offenses within the past seven years; • Had no guns: The offender is not involved in any potential or threatened use of firearms or other deadly weapons; • Was not a player: The accused is not to be seen by authorities as a leader of the drug operation; • Had significant cooperation: To the extent possible, the offender has to show they have provided substantial assistance to law enforcement in related prosecutions and, • Had no deception: The offender can't be involved in any way in selling drugs with fentanyl hidden inside them. To receive a lesser punishment, the defendants would have to submit to court-ordered substance use evaluation and complete within nine months drug treatment as long as it's available in the state. Under Roy's proposal, anyone caught violating their probation would be sentenced to a minimum term, three and a half years for a fentanyl crime, at least five years for causing someone's death. Critics: Minimum mandatory looks tough but accomplishes little Completion of a lesser sanction would require at least 250 hours of community service for a fentanyl crime, 300 hours for someone who causes another's death. Rep, Buzz Scherr, D-Portsmouth, was a leading appellate criminal defense lawyer. 'I have substantial problems with mandatory minimums given the history of the war on drugs. Incarcerations have been shown not to have the kind of impact we intended it to have even though the intent was good,' Scherr said. Roy's panel broke along party lines on the proposal 9-7, with all Republican members in support and all Democrats in opposition. House Democrats praised Roy for trying to soften the minimum mandatory provisions. Rep. David Meuse, D-Portsmouth, said there's no evidence that judges in the state have issued lenient penalties against serious drug dealers. 'What I am not seeing is how this bill makes anything any better,' Meuse said. 'This is an opportunity to perform in politics.' While campaigning for governor, Ayotte said she learned in the 15 years since she was attorney general New Hampshire had fallen behind with tough criminal penalties for drug crimes compared to surrounding states. 'We're out of step and I'm for restoring New Hampshire's image for having among the toughest penalties on fentanyl in the nation,' Ayotte said during a recent interview. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Bill Gannon, R-Sandown, sponsored both bills and has been pressuring Roy's committee for weeks to take action. Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais came to the State House in January to testify for both bills. It's unclear whether the Senate and Ayotte will support Roy's changes. Roy is right about the House's past on the topic with libertarian Republicans often joining Democrats against these bills. A year ago, then-Gov. Chris Sununu supported these two ideas that cleared the Senate. The House last spring voted 340-24 to block the fentanyl bill's passage by placing it on the table and sent the other one off to study. What's Next: The full House of Representatives early next month will vote on whether to support Roy's compromise. Prospects: There's still good odds this happens, but this changes the calculus a bit. Assuming Roy can get his bill through if the Senate balks at it, this could face more talks before a conference committee to reach consensus between the House and Senate. klandrigan@
ABC News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Mandatory sentencing reinstated for some DVO breaches in NT after bill passes parliament
Perpetrators who threaten or cause harm while breaching a domestic violence order (DVO) will receive a mandatory minimum sentence, under new laws brought forward by the Northern Territory government. The Country Liberal Party (CLP) used its majority in the NT's only parliamentary chamber to legislate the changes on Tuesday, despite widespread disapproval from the domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) sector. The legislation restores a mandatory minimum sentence provision repealed by the former Labor government in 2022. A CLP government spokesperson said under the new laws, mandatory sentencing would apply where an offender "breaches their DVO for the first time and threatens or causes harm". "However, it may not apply in circumstances where a person has breached a DVO for the first time and has not caused or threatened to cause harm," they said. Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby said mandatory sentencing would also apply for repeat DVO breaches where harm was not threatened or caused. She said prison sentences for the breaches would be determined by the judiciary. "It's set for the courts as a minimum of a term of imprisonment," Ms Boothby said of the changes. "That will be up to the courts to decide what [the term of imprisonment] is." The legislation also expands the maximum sentence for a DVO breach from two to five years, and enhances victims' access to information about offenders. It is likely to see an increase to the NT's record prison population, which has risen by more than 500 since the CLP was elected last August. The bill was introduced to parliament in March amid criticism from several women's legal services, and subsequently referred to the NT's Legislative Scrutiny Committee. The committee received 21 submissions, all of which opposed the reintroduction of mandatory sentencing and claimed there was no evidence to suggest it prevented domestic violence-related offences. Another concern highlighted was the misidentification of Indigenous women as perpetrators in violent relationships. Domestic violence survivor Holly Supple-Gurruwiwi said Aboriginal women who were not "the perfect victim" often received reciprocal DVOs along with their partners. "That then allows the victim of domestic violence to become further victimised, and even criminalised," she said. "The mandatory sentencing [for DVO breaches] is going to see the victim, the person most in need of protection, in jail, which seems to be the opposite of what we're trying to achieve." The NT has the highest rates of domestic, sexual and family violence in Australia, with a rate of intimate partner homicide seven times that of the national average. On Tuesday, Labor Opposition Leader Selena Uibo announced she had begun drafting a private member's bill to legalise voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in the NT. The NT was the first jurisdiction in the world to legalise VAD in 1995, but the law was overruled by the federal government one year later. The territory's right to legislate its own VAD laws was reinstated by the federal government in 2022. In July 2024, an expert advisory panel provided the former NT Labor government with a VAD framework report after undertaking months of community consultation. It made 22 recommendations, including that the NT should implement legislation "broadly consistent" with laws in other Australian states and territories. Despite that, the CLP last week referred the VAD issue to a parliamentary committee for further consultation. The referral followed pressure from independent MLA Justine Davis, who urged the government to take progressive action on VAD. Ms Uibo said enough consultation had already taken place on VAD and the CLP was kicking "the can down the road". "We're ... starting the process to draft a bill that will provide dignity and choice for people who are suffering in the NT," she said of her private member's bill. VAD is legal in all Australian jurisdictions except the NT.
