This bill amends New Jersey's three strikes law to ensure that it only applies to individuals over the age of 18. Specifically, it states that a person convicted of certain serious crimes, who has two or more prior convictions for these crimes committed on separate occasions, will be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, but only if those prior convictions were not committed while the individual was a juvenile. The bill defines a juvenile as someone under the age of 18, thereby excluding juvenile convictions from being considered as predicate offenses for the purpose of imposing a life sentence.

The legislation aims to reverse a recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision in *State v. Ryan*, which held that juvenile convictions could count as strikes under the three strikes law. By removing juvenile offenses from consideration, the bill allows judges greater discretion in sentencing, enabling them to take into account the age and circumstances of the defendant. This change is intended to prevent the imposition of harsh life sentences on individuals who committed crimes as minors, aligning with constitutional considerations regarding sentencing discretion for juveniles.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 2C:43-7.1