State Campaigns to End Extreme Sentences

The Sentencing Project advocated and testified for the passage of Connecticut’s Act Concerning Sentence Modification Eligibility, which sought to expand the state’s second look process by removing the excessive restrictions currently in place. The bill ultimately didn’t pass this year, but The Sentencing Project will continue to engage to push for Second Look reforms in Connecticut.

Eddie Deleon was sentenced at the age of 21 following his participation in a robbery in 1991 in which his accomplice committed murder. He served 32 years and 9 months of incarceration before he obtained sentencing relief under Connecticut’s second look law. Learn more about how the sentencing relief Eddie was able to access is denied to others who seek rehabilitation and transformation while incarcerated in Connecticut.

Maryland has some of the worst racial disparities in incarceration across the country, as nearly 72% of Maryland’s incarcerated population is Black and 82% of Black Marylanders who are serving life sentences were under the age of 25 at the time of their offense, which is the highest rate in the nation. Learn how Maryland can address racial disparities in incarceration from our coalition partner Yanet Amanuel at ACLU-MD.

The Sentencing Project’s Warren Allen testified before the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in support of Second Look legislation that would create an important tool in making meaningful opportunities for persons sentenced to Maryland prisons.

During the 2025 legislative session, The Sentencing Project supported legislation that would establish the Rhode Island First Step Act to authorize a sentence reduction for certain persons completing their prison sentence, including elders and persons deemed terminally ill.

During the 2025 legislative session, The Sentencing Project supported legislation to authorize the appointment of a formerly incarcerated person to the parole board.

State lawmakers are weighing a proposal that would allow people serving long sentences to ask a judge for a “second look” at their punishment after 10 years.

Mario Monteiro has gained the right to a meaningful opportunity for parole thanks to a recent Rhode Island Supreme Court ruling. The Sentencing Project joined with the Juvenile Law Center, the Gault Center, the National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Prison Policy Initiative in an amicus brief in support of parole review at 20 years.

Many of the bill’s provisions would bring DC’s criminal penalties closer in line with criminological evidence on public safety, improve fairness and proportionality and advance racial justice in the criminal legal system.

With the expansion of the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act in 2020, Randall McNeil was finally given an opportunity to petition for his freedom. In August 2022, McNeil was granted his freedom after 24 years in prison.

The Council of the District of Columbia should protect the Criminal Code Reform Commission, which strengthens DC lawmaking and helps advance the cause of justice, equity, and autonomy.

The Sentencing Project’s Nazgol Ghandnoosh testified before the Massachusetts Legislature in support of Second Look legislation that would allow people 25 or younger at the time of their offense to petition for resentencing after 10 to 15 years of imprisonment and allow others to the same after 12 to 18 years of imprisonment.

William Florentino was sentenced to LWOP in Massachusetts at 20-years-old following his participation in a robbery in 1977 in which his accomplice committed murder. He has been in prison for over 46 years and is now an elderly man. Learn more about William and other emerging adults (age 25 and younger) who are sentenced to life without parole.