From the State House News Service... Your phone calls/emails are working. If you have not called/emailed, it would be a great time to do it. The narrative is shifting. We may need to "give" on a narrower/less sucky "3 strikes" piece, in order to get truly good reforms like reduced sentences on non-violent criminals and reductions in school zones. If you have not called, please do. I will update the calling rubric/talking points shortly!
CONFEREE OFFERS TO PITCH SENATE’S REDUCED DRUG SENTENCES TO HOUSE MEMBERS
By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, FEB. 3, 2012…. Without the opportunity for House members to vote on key pieces of a Senate crime bill, House Judiciary Chairman Eugene O’Flaherty said on Friday he believed he could sell a compromise bill to the full House that toughens penalties for repeat violent offenders and includes Senate plans reducing mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenders, lowering drug weight limits that trigger tougher sentences, and slashing the size of school zones with special penalties for drug dealers.
O’Flaherty made his offer to Friday morning to three Senate members of a conference committee negotiating an omnibus sentencing reform package that cleared the House and Senate in different forms late last year. The House passed a much narrower bill that only dealt with repeat violent offenders by eliminating parole after a third felony, a measure also included in the Senate bill.
The positioning from the House Friday appeared to open a window for compromise on a bill that has drawn protests from social justice, prisoner and religious groups for its “harsh” approach to dealing with repeat offenders.
