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SCS/SB 590 - Under current law, offenders who were under the age of 18 at the time they committed first degree murder must be sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility for probation, parole, or conditional release. In June 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court in Miller v. Alabama held that mandatory life sentences without parole for juvenile criminal offenders are unconstitutional. As a result, there is no punishment for first degree murder under current law in Missouri that is enforceable against those who committed murder before they turned 18. This act repeals the mandatory life sentence found to be unconstitutional in Miller v. Alabama. Under this act, a person who was 16 or 17 years old at the time of the crime may be sentenced to either imprisonment for at least 50 years or life imprisonment without parole. A person who was under the age of 16 may be sentenced to imprisonment for at least 35 years or life without parole. A person who was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole prior to June 25, 2012, is eligible for a parole hearing after serving 50 years if the person was 16 or 17 years old at the time of the offense or after serving 35 years if the person was under the age of 16 at the time of the offense. The offense of murder in the first degree was added to the definition of "dangerous felony". This act repeals obsolete provisions stating that certain trials are to proceed in a single stage. Other technical changes were made in this act to make the provisions align with amendments to the criminal code in SB 491 (2014). This act contains an emergency clause for the provisions regarding the penalty for first degree murder. This act is substantially similar to SB 200 (2015) and contains provisions similar to SB 790 (2014), SB 491 (2014), SB 377 (2013), SB 253 (2013), and SB 872 (2012). JESSI BAKER
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