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H1760 • 2025

An Act to provide equitable sentencing for felony murder

An Act to provide equitable sentencing for felony murder

Crime
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Russell E. Holmes
Last action
2026-01-29
Official status
Accompanied a new draft, see H4997
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act to provide equitable sentencing for felony murder

An Act to provide equitable sentencing for felony murder By Representative Holmes of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

  • An Act to provide equitable sentencing for felony murder By Representative Holmes of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
  • 1760) of Russell E.
  • Holmes relative to sentencing for felony murder.
  • The Judiciary.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-01-29 House

    Accompanied a new draft, see H4997

  2. 2025-09-16 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 09/23/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2

  3. 2025-02-27 House

    Referred to the committee on The Judiciary

  4. 2025-02-27 Senate

    Senate concurred

Official Summary Text

An Act to provide equitable sentencing for felony murder
By Representative Holmes of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1760) of Russell E. Holmes relative to sentencing for felony murder. The Judiciary.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
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Bill H.1760

SECTION 1. Chapter 265 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 1 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 1. (a) Murder committed with deliberately premeditated malice aforethought, or with extreme atrocity or cruelty is murder in the first degree. Murder which does not appear to be in the first degree is murder in the second degree. Petit treason shall be prosecuted and punished as murder. The degree of murder shall be found by the jury.

(b) Whenever a death occurs in the commission or attempted commission of a crime punishable with death or imprisonment for life, unless there is a showing of deliberately premeditated malice aforethought, extreme atrocity or cruelty, whoever is found to have committed or attempted to commit such crime shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of no less than 15 years nor more than 25 years to life.

SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, subsection (b) of section 1 shall apply to any person charged or convicted with murder in the first degree prior to, on or after the effective date of this act.

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