PRINTER'S NO. 3108
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 2296
Session of
2024
INTRODUCED BY BRIGGS, WEBSTER, MADDEN, KINKEAD, HILL-EVANS,
SANCHEZ, HOHENSTEIN, SCHLOSSBERG, DONAHUE, T. DAVIS, KHAN,
HOWARD, SHUSTERMAN, KRAJEWSKI, McCLINTON, CERRATO, BOYD AND
GIRAL, MAY 20, 2024
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MAY 20, 2024
AN ACT
1 Amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses) and 61 (Prisons and
2 Parole) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in
3 authorized disposition of offenders, further providing for
4 sentence for murder, murder of unborn child and murder of law
5 enforcement officer and for sentence of persons under the age
6 of 18 for murder, murder of an unborn child and murder of a
7 law enforcement officer; and, in Pennsylvania Board of
8 Probation and Parole, further providing for parole power.
9 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
10 hereby enacts as follows:
11 Section 1. Sections 1102(b) and 1102.1(c) of Title 18 of the
12 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to read:
13 § 1102. Sentence for murder, murder of unborn child and murder
14 of law enforcement officer.
15 * * *
16 (b) Second degree.--Except as provided under section 1102.1,
17 a person who has been convicted of murder of the second degree,
18 of second degree murder of an unborn child or of second degree
19 murder of a law enforcement officer shall be sentenced to a term
20 of [life] imprisonment of not more than 50 years.
1 * * *
2 § 1102.1. Sentence of persons under the age of 18 for murder,
3 murder of an unborn child and murder of a law
4 enforcement officer.
5 * * *
6 (c) Second degree murder.--A person who has been convicted
7 after June 24, 2012, of a murder of the second degree, second
8 degree murder of an unborn child or murder of a law enforcement
9 officer of the second degree and who was under the age of 18 at
10 the time of the commission of the offense shall be sentenced as
11 follows:
12 (1) A person who at the time of the commission of the
13 offense was 15 years of age or older shall be sentenced to a
14 term of imprisonment [the minimum of which shall be at least
15 30 years to life] of not more than 40 years.
16 (2) A person who at the time of the commission of the
17 offense was under 15 years of age shall be sentenced to a
18 term of imprisonment [the minimum of which shall be at least
19 20 years to life] of not more than 30 years.
20 * * *
21 Section 2. Section 6137(a)(1) and (3) of Title 61 are
22 amended and the subsection is amended by adding a paragraph to
23 read:
24 § 6137. Parole power.
25 (a) General criteria for parole.--
26 (1) The board may parole subject to consideration of
27 guidelines established under 42 Pa.C.S. § 2154.5 (relating to
28 adoption of guidelines for parole) or subject to section
29 6137.1 (relating to short sentence parole) and such
30 information developed by or furnished to the board under
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1 section 6174 (relating to right of access to offenders), or
2 both, and may release on parole any offender to whom the
3 power to parole is granted to the board by this chapter,
4 except an offender condemned to death or serving life
5 imprisonment for a conviction under 18 Pa.C.S. § 2502(a)
6 (relating to murder), whenever in its opinion:
7 (i) The best interests of the offender justify or
8 require that the offender be paroled.
9 (ii) It does not appear that the interests of the
10 Commonwealth will be injured by the offender's parole.
11 * * *
12 (3) The power to parole granted under this section to
13 the board may not be exercised in the board's discretion at
14 any time before, but only after, the expiration of the
15 minimum term of imprisonment fixed by the court in its
16 sentence or by the Board of Pardons in a sentence which has
17 been reduced by commutation[.], except as follows:
18 (i) Notwithstanding 42 Pa.C.S. § 9757 (relating to
19 consecutive sentences of total confinement for multiple
20 offenses), the board may grant parole 25 years after the
21 date of incarceration for an offender sentenced to life
22 imprisonment under 18 Pa.C.S. § 1102(b) (relating to
23 sentence for murder, murder of unborn child and murder of
24 law enforcement officer).
25 (ii) Notwithstanding 42 Pa.C.S. § 9757, the board
26 may grant parole 20 years after the date of incarceration
27 for an offender sentenced under 18 Pa.C.S. § 1102.1(c)(1)
28 (relating to sentence of persons under the age of 18 for
29 murder, murder of an unborn child and murder of a law
30 enforcement officer).
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1 (iii) Notwithstanding 42 Pa.C.S. § 9757, the board
2 may grant parole 15 years after the date of incarceration
3 for an offender sentenced under 18 Pa.C.S. § 1102.1(c)
4 (2).
5 (iv) Before parole may be granted under subparagraph
6 (i), (ii) or (iii), the board must give primary
7 consideration to the protection of the public and to
8 victim safety. In addition to the considerations required
9 under 42 Pa.C.S. § 2154.5, when determining whether to
10 grant parole under subparagraph (i), (ii) or (iii), the
11 board shall consider the level of culpability of the
12 person in the underlying murder, including, but not
13 limited to, whether the person directly caused or
14 intended to cause a death.
15 * * *
16 (3.2) The power to parole a person under paragraph (3)
17 (i), (ii) or (iii) may only be utilized if the victims of the
18 underlying offense have been notified that parole is being
19 considered and are given the opportunity to be heard by the
20 board, unless there is good cause that notice or the
21 opportunity to be heard could not be provided. Nothing in
22 this paragraph shall be construed to reduce, alter or
23 eliminate any rights of a victim under section 201 of the act
24 of November 24, 1998 (P.L.882, No.111), known as the Crime
25 Victims Act.
26 * * *
27 Section 3. The addition of 61 Pa.C.S. § 6137(a)(3)(i), (ii),
28 (iii) and (iv) and (3.2) shall apply to the incarceration of an
29 offender sentenced before, on or after the effective date of
30 this section.
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1 Section 4. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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Statutes/Laws affected: Printer's No. 3108: 18-1102(b), 18-1102.1(c)