Increases the sentences for certain felony grade offenses committed by juvenile offenders to standards that are above the current levels but fall below those imposed on adults; notably, for the A felony of murder in the second degree the term has a maximum of life imprisonment and no minimum.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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6465
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 17, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JOHNS -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BURLING,
CERETTO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to increasing sentences for
certain juvenile offenders
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 70.05 of the penal law, as
2 added by chapter 481 of the laws of 1978, paragraph (e) of subdivision 2
3 as added and paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 435 of
4 the laws of 1998, and paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 as amended by chap-
5 ter 174 of the laws of 2003, are amended to read as follows:
6 2. Maximum term of sentence. The maximum term of an indeterminate
7 sentence for a juvenile offender shall be [at least three years and the
8 term shall be] fixed as follows:
9 (a) For the class A felony of murder in the second degree, the term
10 shall be life imprisonment;
11 (b) For the class A felony of arson in the first degree, or for the
12 class A felony of kidnapping in the first degree the term shall be fixed
13 by the court, and shall be at least twelve years but shall not exceed
14 fifteen years;
15 (c) For a class B felony, the term shall be fixed by the court, and
16 shall be at least four years but shall not exceed [ten] fifteen years;
17 (d) For a class C felony, the term shall be fixed by the court, and
18 shall not exceed [seven] ten years; and
19 (e) For a class D felony, the term shall be fixed by the court, and
20 shall be at least three years but shall not exceed [four] seven years.
21 3. Minimum period of imprisonment. The minimum period of imprisonment
22 under an indeterminate sentence for a juvenile offender shall be speci-
23 fied in the sentence as follows:
24 (a) [For the class A felony of murder in the second degree, the mini-
25 mum period of imprisonment shall be fixed by the court and shall be not
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07183-01-1
A. 6465 2
1 less than five years but shall not exceed nine years provided, however,
2 that where the sentence is for an offense specified in subdivision one
3 or two of section 125.25 of this chapter and the defendant was fourteen
4 or fifteen years old at the time of such offense, the minimum period of
5 imprisonment shall be not less than seven and one-half years but shall
6 not exceed fifteen years;
7 (b)] For the class A felony of arson in the first degree, or for the
8 class A felony of kidnapping in the first degree, the minimum period of
9 imprisonment shall be fixed by the court and shall be not less than
10 [four] eight years but shall not exceed [six] twelve years; and
11 [(c)] (b) For a class B, C or D felony, the minimum period of impri-
12 sonment shall be fixed by the court at [one-third] one-half of the maxi-
13 mum term imposed.
14 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
15 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
