New York S 541: Authorizes imposition of life imprisonment without parole sentence for persistent violent felony offenders; repealer

Bill Text

Bill Search and Legislative Information | New York State Assembly 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Skip to main content 

 New York State Assembly

 Speaker Carl E. Heastie

 --> 
 --> 

 --> 

• 
 Assembly Members 

• 
 Legislative Info 

• 
 Public Hearings 

• 
 Speaker's Press 

• 
 Assembly Reports 

• 
 Committees & More 

• Bill Search Home
• Laws
• Legislative Calendar
• Public Hearing Schedule
• Assembly Calendars
• Assembly Committee Agenda 

 Javascript must be enabled to properly view this page. 

 Bill No.: 

• Summary 
• Actions 
• Committee&nbspVotes 
• Floor&nbspVotes 
• Memo 
• Text 
• LFIN 
• Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript 
S00541 Summary:

BILL NOS00541 

&nbsp

SAME ASSAME AS A04853

&nbsp

SPONSORTEDISCO

&nbsp

COSPNSR

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Amd §§70.00 & 70.08, rpld §70.08 sub 3, Pen L

&nbsp

Authorizes imposition of life imprisonment without parole sentence for persistent violent felony offenders upon conviction of a violent felony offense when such person has previously been subjected to two or more predicate violent felony convictions.

Go to top S00541 Actions:

BILL NOS00541 

&nbsp

01/08/2025REFERRED TO CODES

01/07/2026REFERRED TO CODES

Go to topS00541 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS00541 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS00541 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 541

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 (Prefiled)

 January 8, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sen. TEDISCO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes

 AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to sentencing of persistent
 violent felony offenders; and to repeal subdivision 3 of section 70.08
 of such law relating to minimum periods of imprisonment for persistent
 violent felony offenders

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 70.00 of the penal law, as amended
 2 by section 40-a of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is
 3 amended to read as follows:
 4 5. Life imprisonment without parole. Notwithstanding any other
 5 provision of law, a defendant sentenced to life imprisonment without
 6 parole shall not be or become eligible for parole or conditional
 7 release. For purposes of commitment and custody, other than parole and
 8 conditional release, such sentence shall be deemed to be an indetermi-
 9 nate sentence. A defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment with-
 10 out parole, in accordance with the procedures provided by law for impos-
 11 ing such a sentence, either: (a) upon conviction for the crime of murder
 12 in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter [and in
 13 accordance with the procedures provided by law for imposing a sentence
 14 for such crime]; or (b) upon conviction of a violent felony offense as
 15 defined in subdivision one of section 70.02 of this article when such
 16 defendant has previously been subjected to two or more predicate violent
 17 felony convictions as defined in paragraph (b) of subdivision one of
 18 section 70.04 of this article. A defendant who was eighteen years of
 19 age or older at the time of the commission of the crime must be
 20 sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon conviction for the
 21 crime of terrorism as defined in section 490.25 of this chapter, where
 22 the specified offense the defendant committed is a class A-I felony; the

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD01835-01-5

 S. 541 2

 1 crime of criminal possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon
 2 in the first degree as defined in section 490.45 of this chapter; or the
 3 crime of criminal use of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the
 4 first degree as defined in section 490.55 of this chapter; provided,
 5 however, that nothing in this subdivision shall preclude or prevent a
 6 sentence of death when the defendant is also convicted of the crime of
 7 murder in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter,
 8 or is also convicted of a violent felony offense as defined in subdivi-
 9 sion one of section 70.02 of this article when such defendant has previ-
 10 ously been subjected to two or more predicate violent felony convictions
 11 as defined in paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 70.04 of this
 12 article. A defendant who was seventeen years of age or younger at the
 13 time of the commission of the crime may be sentenced, in accordance with
 14 law, to the applicable indeterminate sentence with a maximum term of
 15 life imprisonment. A defendant must be sentenced to life imprisonment
 16 without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in the second
 17 degree as defined in subdivision five of section 125.25 of this chapter