Provides that sentence for terrorism or certain provisions of murder in the first degree shall be life imprisonment without parole

BILL NUMBER:S5308

Title of bill

An act to amend the penal law and the criminal procedure law, in relation to sentencing for the commission of a crime of terrorism and certain provisions of murder in the first degree

Purpose

To provide that sentence for terrorism or certain provisions of murder in the first degree shall be life imprisonment without parole.

Summary of provisions

Section 1. Section 60.06 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 482 of the laws of 2009 is amended to include murder in the first degree.

Section 2. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 70.00 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 107 of the laws of 2006, is amended to include a sentence, other than the sentence of death imposed upon a defendant convicted of murder in the first degree, or convicted of a crime of terrorism, and/or criminal possession of a chemical or biological weapon.

Section 3. Subdivision 5 of section 70.00 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 482 of the laws of 2009 is amended to include the crime of murder in the first degree.

Section 4. Section 490.25 of the penal law, as added by chapter 300 of the laws of 2001, is amended to make a crime of terrorism a class A-I felony.

Section 5. Subdivisions 1 and 10 of section 400.27 of the criminal procedure law, as added by chapter 1 of the laws of 1995, are amended to require a jury to be unanimous with respect to the sentence imposed. In the event the jury fails to reach unanimous agreement with respect to the sentence, the court will sentence the defendant to a term of life imprisonment without parole.

Section 6 is the effective date

Justification

Following the death of an MIT police officer in relation to the Boston Marathon bombing, this bill calls for the reinstatement of the death penalty for terrorists and in those cases involving the intentional murder of a police officer, peace officer or an employee of the Department of Correctional Services. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Patrol Officer Sean Collier was killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombers. New York State is terror target number one, and we need our Governor to make the death penalty for cop killers and terrorists a top priority. The death penalty is a fitting deterrent that will act as protection for those men and women who leave their loving families daily and put their lives at risk every day to protect the rest us. Since a 2004 New York Court of Appeals ruling established that the procedure for imposing the death penalty was flawed, prosecutors have been unable to seek the death penalty when a law enforcement officer is murdered while performing his or her duties.

Legislative history

New legislation

Fiscal implications

None

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to offenses committed on or after such effective date.