After Tuesday, the House and Senate will not have an opportunity to override a veto.
Although the legislative session ends Tuesday at midnight, Gov. Deval Patrick has 10 days to sign any bills that land on his desk. But anything he vetoes cannot be overridden since the Legislature will have adjourned. Perhaps the most-watched bill in this scenario is the mandatory sentencing bill, also called the "three-strikes" law or "Melissa's Bill," over which the governor and Legislature have locked horns. The bill eliminates parole for someone convicted three times of one of 40 or so violent crimes, with at least one conviction having carried a minimum three-year prison term. After languishing for years, the bill received renewed support after Woburn Police Officer Jack Maguire was killed by a paroled, violent repeat offender who…
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The governor on Saturday sent 'Melissa's Bill' back to the Legislature.
Gov. Deval Patrick set in motion a wave of criticism when he proposed an amendment to the "three strikes"/Melissa's Bill on the grounds that it lacked sufficient provisions for judicial discretion. Warning of possible unintended "unjust consequences" that can arise from mandatory sentencing laws, Patrick wrote in a letter to the Legislature, "None of us is wise or prescient enough to foresee each and every circumstance in which the new habitual offender provisions may apply." On Monday afternoon, the House rejected Patrick's amendment by a vote of 132-23, according to The Boston Globe. The bill's fate is up in the air, as the legislature's summer session will end Tuesday at midnight. The governor has not indicated whether he would veto …
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Earnhardt
7:21 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
All offenders are safe in the Governor's House! and please notice one of the current candidates for governor's council is "inclined" to try and rehab guys like Cinelli..... more ›