Bill Text: NY A09016 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Clarifies that only persons eighteen years of age and older may be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-02-02 - referred to codes [A09016 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A09016-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          9016

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 2, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. GIBBS -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Codes

        AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to the age of persons  eligi-
          ble for a sentence of life imprisonment without parole

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 70.00 of the penal law, as amended
     2  by section 40-a of part WWW of chapter  59  of  the  laws  of  2017,  is
     3  amended to read as follows:
     4    5.   Life  imprisonment  without  parole.  Notwithstanding  any  other
     5  provision of law, a defendant sentenced  to  life  imprisonment  without
     6  parole  shall  not  be  or  become  eligible  for  parole or conditional
     7  release. For purposes of commitment and custody, other than  parole  and
     8  conditional  release,  such sentence shall be deemed to be an indetermi-
     9  nate sentence. A defendant who was eighteen years of age or older at the
    10  time of the commission of the crime may be sentenced to  life  imprison-
    11  ment without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in the first
    12  degree  as  defined  in section 125.27 of this chapter and in accordance
    13  with the procedures provided by law for imposing  a  sentence  for  such
    14  crime. A defendant who was eighteen years of age or older at the time of
    15  the commission of the crime must be sentenced to life imprisonment with-
    16  out  parole  upon  conviction  for  the crime of terrorism as defined in
    17  section 490.25 of this chapter, where the specified offense the  defend-
    18  ant committed is a class A-I felony; the crime of criminal possession of
    19  a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in
    20  section 490.45 of this chapter; or the crime of criminal use of a chemi-
    21  cal  weapon  or  biological  weapon  in  the  first degree as defined in
    22  section 490.55 of this chapter; provided, however, that nothing in  this
    23  subdivision  shall  preclude  or  prevent  a  sentence of death when the
    24  defendant is also convicted of the crime of murder in the  first  degree
    25  as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter. A defendant who was seven-
    26  teen  years of age or younger at the time of the commission of the crime
    27  may be sentenced, in accordance with law, to the  applicable  indetermi-
    28  nate  sentence  [with  a maximum term of life imprisonment]. A defendant

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13107-02-3
        A. 9016                             2

     1  who was eighteen years of age or older at the time of the commission  of
     2  the  crime  must  be  sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon
     3  conviction for the crime of murder in the second degree  as  defined  in
     4  subdivision  five  of section 125.25 of this chapter or for the crime of
     5  aggravated murder as defined in subdivision one  of  section  125.26  of
     6  this  chapter. A defendant who was eighteen years of age or older at the
     7  time of the commission of the crime may be sentenced to  life  imprison-
     8  ment  without  parole upon conviction for the crime of aggravated murder
     9  as defined in subdivision two of section 125.26 of this chapter.
    10    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.