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Eliminating Mandatory Life Sentences in Delaware

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DOVER, Del. (AP) - Gov. Jack Markell is set to sign legislation eliminating mandatory life sentences for habitual offenders and distinguishing between violent felonies and nonviolent felonies when sentencing habitual criminals.

The legislation cleared the House on a 29-to-11 vote Tuesday after earlier passing the Senate.

Under the measure, a person would be declared a habitual criminal after a third violent felony conviction or a fourth felony conviction of any kind.

If a person with three felony convictions is later convicted of a violent felony, the minimum sentence would be half the maximum allowed for the violent felony.

But if one of the three prior convictions involved a violent felony, or if a person was convicted of a third violent felony, the minimum sentence would equal the maximum allowed for the final violent felony.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.