Delaware General Assembly

Senate Judiciary 6/7/16

The General Assembly has ended, the current status is the final status.

6/7/16

Henry

Sen. McDowell, Peterson
Reps. Keeley, Baumbach, Bolden, Kowalko

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SENTENCES FOR CERTAIN DRUG OFFENSES.

In 2011, House Bill No. 19, otherwise known as the Ned Carpenter Act, 78 Del. Law, c. 13, overhauled the statutory penalties for drug offenses. Notably, it drastically reduced the mandatory minimum sentences for many drug offenses. These changes paralleled the changes made by the federal government and many other states to their respective sentencing provisions. However, the Ned Carpenter Act did not make the new statutory penalties retroactive. By contrast the federal government and several states, including California, New York, and Michigan, have made their new sentencing provisions for drug offenses retroactive, enabling inmates sentenced under the prior sentencing provisions to apply for resentencing. Since Delaware has not done the same, there are many inmates in Delaware’s prisons who are serving long terms of incarceration, even though the current statutory penalties would almost certainly have provided them with far shorter sentences. This Act rectifies this by providing that the new statutory penalties established by the Ned Carpenter Act apply retroactively and allowing such inmates to petition the Superior Court for a reduced sentenced.

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Takes effect upon being signed into law

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