Lansing Passes 2017 PA 265 Eliminating Automatic Mandatory Life Sentencing for Drug Offenders

On December 28, 2017, the Michigan Legislature and also Governor Snyder sent 2017 PA 265 to the Secretary of State for access into the Michigan Compiled Laws. The Public Act served to change a number of provisions of the State's Criminal Laws. The most considerable modification, however, was an amendment to M.C.L. § 333.7413( 1) as well as (2 ). Those areas imposed added penalties upon persons founded guilty of a second narcotics-related offense. While the need for a sentencing improvement for second or subsequent wrongdoers in all is open for debate, the law, before the passage of the bill, called for the imposition of mandatory life sentence, without the opportunity of parole, for a second violation of possession with intent to provide greater than 50 grams of cocaine, or, about 2/5 the weight of a bar of Dove Soap.

The Old Scheme: Under the current regulation, which will not much longer be in effect after March 28, 2018, if an individual has ever been founded guilty of a narcotics associated infraction involving 50 grams or more of an abused substance, a second conviction, under the old version of the law, enforced a required life sentence without the opportunity of parole. The only other crime in Michigan that has such a sentence is First Degree Murder. Simply put, the law, prior to this amendment, treated two sentences for possessing with the intent to sell or provide, actually delivering, or producing 50 grams of cocaine or a comparable, in the same manner as a premeditated murder, or killing a police officer in the line of duty. The old system was set up in the 1980s, specifically, the statute M.C.L. § 333.7413 was last changed in 1988, when the US Governments, and also the States, were in the middle of the "War on Drugs" and were setting up severe penalties for all narcotics relevant offenses. Since that time, the majority of States, as well as the Federal Government, have reduced penalties for certain, low-level drug offenses, even for repeat culprits. Michigan's old repeat drug culprit sentencing stipulations had actually not caught up with the new system.

The New Scheme: Under the new variation of the bill, the repeat narcotics culprit sentencing stipulations have been modified and also minimized. Most significantly, the mandatory lifer stipulations pertaining to narcotics offenses have been removed. In other words, an individual founded guilty of a second or succeeding drug infraction can no longer be punished to life without the possibility of parole. Rather, the second or succeeding crime can subject the person to a maximum sentence of up to two times that otherwise enforced by the law. Given the extensive sentences that are enforced for possession with intent to deliver cocaine, distribution of cocaine, and manufacturing of cocaine, those double-time sentences can still be substantial, but there is no mandatory life imposition, as well as there is the opportunity of a probationary sentence in lieu of prison, as well as eligibility for parole. These are significant as well as crucial adjustments for anyone who is facing charges for narcotics-related offenses, and a vital development that any kind of criminal defense attorney handling these instance should understand about. The new adjustments to the legislation will become effective on March 28, 2018. The legislation does not indicate whether it will be applicable retroactively or not, though generally, such laws are not considered to apply to cases that were closed prior to enactment.

mandatory life sentencing for drug offenders