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MA House and Senate Pass Major Criminal Justice Reform Legislation
MOAR
is a proud member of the Jobs Not Jails Coalition, a group of community, labor, religious, legal organizations and indviduals
individuals with a keen interest in the review of the state's criminal justice system.
- With our partners we believe in a Justice Re-Investment strategy that would introduce simple common-sense reforms.
- Both the House and Senate have recently released comprehensive legislation that encompasses many positive reforms.
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Both versions include provisions to:
- Reduce long CORI sealing times from 10 to 7 years for a felony and 5 to 3 years for a misdemeanor. Also will allow people convicted of resisting arrest to seal their records.
- Raise the threshold for felony theft from $250 to over $1,000 so that people who commit minor theft are not burdened with a long-term felony record
- Eliminate some Mandatory Minimum sentences for non-weight and non-opioid drug crimes to put sentencing discretion back in the hands of judges.
- Create programs to divert people with addictions to treatment rather than jail.
- There are some big differences between the House and Senate versions. During the next months, a Conference Committee made up of key legislators from both chambers will be working to reconcile the two versions to make a final bill to send to the Governor.
- Recovery Voices will be needed to educate the Conference Committee on the need to adopt strong reforms in the final bill.
- Stay tuned for MOAR Action Alerts and use your Recovery Voice!
Pictures from the November 1st Rally at the statehouse for comprehensive criminal justice reform with MOAR and the Jobs Not Jails Coalition!
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