S 3291 New Jersey Senate · 2024-2025 Regular Session

Amends "three strikes law" to apply only to persons over 18 years of age.

This bill amends New Jersey's "three strikes" law to exclude crimes committed when a person was a juvenile (under 18) from counting toward the two prior serious offenses required for a mandatory life sentence without parole. It directly affects individuals with prior juvenile convictions for serious crimes (like murder, sexual assault, or robbery) who would otherwise face automatic life imprisonment. The key change adds explicit language requiring all prior offenses to have been committed as an adult, reversing a 2022 Supreme Court decision that allowed juvenile offenses to count as "strikes." This gives judges discretion to consider a defendant's age and circumstances rather than mandating life sentences for offenses committed as minors.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
May 2024
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced May 20, 2024 Last action May 20, 2024
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Total actions
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Committee
0
May 20, 2024
Introduced
Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Shirley Turner
Shirley Turner
DDemocratic
NJ
15