Raptakis to Re-Introduce Bill to Limit Murderers' Early Parole

Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, East Greenwich, West Greenwich) announced Wednesday that he intends on re-introducing legislation that would require anyone convicted of first- or second-degree murder to serve at least half of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

“Individuals who commit first or second degree murder should be expected to serve at least the majority of their sentences, although I firmly believe they should be required to complete the full sentence for these kinds of heinous acts,” said Senator Raptakis. “At the very least, they should have to serve no less than half of the sentence, which has not always been the case.”

An identical bill Raptakis introduced during last legislative session was passed by the Senate but stalled in the house. Raptakis said he hopes that the House will give it a “full and fair hearing this time.”

“This is about truth in sentencing and requiring individuals convicted of a horrible crime to serve a significant amount of time in jail,” he said. “The public expects that those convicted of such a violent crime as murder will pay an appropriate price by serving a significant amount of time behind bars.”

Like the legislation approved by the Senate in June, 2014 (2014-S 2036A), Senator Raptakis said the bill he plans to introduce in the 2015 session will change several parole guidelines. In addition to calling for first- and second-degree murderers not sentenced to life to serve 50 percent of their prison sentence, the bill will propose that individuals convicted of first- or second-degree murder who are sentenced to life will not be eligible for parole until serving at least 30 years of the life sentence.

Similarly, a person sentenced to consecutive life sentences for more than a single murder conviction would be required to serve at least 30 years of each sentence before being eligible for parole. Also, no person sentenced to life for a crime other than first- or second-degree murder would be eligible for parole until serving at least 20 years of the sentence.

“How can we talk about being tough on crime when murderers know they will be getting out of prison after serving only a relatively short amount of time, and much less than the sentence they receive? Why pretend we are giving out harsh sentences when we all know, and when the murderers know, they will be getting out in much less time then they have been sentenced to serve?” he asked.