Bill Summary for S 635 (2011-2012)

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Summary date: 

Jul 2 2012

Bill Information:

View NCGA Bill Details2011-2012 Session
Senate Bill 635 (Public) Filed Monday, April 18, 2011
TO INCREASE THE FINES FOR LITTERING OFFENSES.
Intro. by Rouzer.

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Bill summary

House committee substitute makes the following changes to 2nd edition. Deletes all provisions of previous edition and replaces them with AN ACT TO AMEND THE STATE SENTENCING LAWS TO COMPLY WITH THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISION IN MILLER V. ALABAMA.
Adds new Article 93, Sentencing for Minors Subject to Life Imprisonment Without Parole, to GS Chapter 15A to set out sentencing requirements for defendants who are convicted of first degree murder and who were under the age of 18 at the time of the offense. States that the defendant must receive a sentence of life imprisonment with parole if the sole basis of a first degree murder conviction was the felony murder rule. Otherwise requires a hearing to determine whether the defendant should be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole rather than life with parole, which means, under proposed Article 93, that the defendant must serve at least 25 years before eligibility for parole. Sets out the procedure for the hearing, and permits the defendant to submit mitigating circumstances, including age at the time of the offense and intellectual capacity. Specifies that Article 58 of GS Chapter 15A (procedures for guilty pleas in superior court) applies. Requires the court to consider any mitigating factors when determining whether the defendant should receive life imprisonment with parole and to include specified findings in the court’s order. Sets out procedures for courts hearing motions for appropriate relief filed under proposed Article 93. Specifies that defendants sentenced to life imprisonment with parole are subject to the parole provisions in Article 85. Provides that the term of parole for a person released from imprisonment, following a sentence of life imprisonment with parole, is five years, and parole may not be terminated at an earlier date by the Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission. States that a defendant, who is sentenced to life imprisonment with parole, and who is paroled, violates a condition of parole, and returned to serve the life sentence, is not eligible for parole for five years after the date of return to prison. Applies to any sentencing hearings held on or after the date the act becomes law, and to any resentencing hearing ordered for a defendant who was under 18 at the time of the offense and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole before the date the act becomes law.
Directs the NC Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission and other specified entities to study this act’s provisions and other relevant matters related to the sentencing of minors convicted of first degree murder and to report to the General Assembly by January 31, 2013.