For possession of methamphetamine precursors, that was 60 years. 2013 Mississippi Code Title 99 - CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Chapter 19 - JUDGMENT, SENTENCE, AND EXECUTION SENTENCING OF HABITUAL CRIMINALS 99-19-81 - Sentencing of habitual criminals to maximum term of imprisonment Universal Citation: MS Code 99-19-81 (2013) Mississippi's habitual offender law is one of the harshest in the country and a driver of the state's massive prison population. Terms of the habitual offender law The law in Mississippi applies to people who have served at least one year in prison for each of two prior felony offenses. Your lawyer may also be able to reduce a habitual offender's sentence after conviction. The new law provides that violent offenders are eligible for parole after serving 50% of their sentence or twenty years, whichever is shorter. Brown is challenging the state's habitual offender law that ensured she would receive life without parole before the U.S. Supreme Court, which will decide what action to take on the case. Houser was sentenced under a law which says that any person with two felony convictions is required to be sentenced to the maximum term allowed for their third offense. Mississippi's habitual offender's law, referred to. Mississippi's habitual offender laws are still subject to the United States Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. FILE - In this June 12, 2015, file photo, fencing surrounds the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond, Miss. TUPELO A Pontotoc County woman is seeking to challenge Mississippi's habitual offender laws before the U.S. Supreme Court while serving a mandatory life sentence linked to the possession of The best Mississippi defense lawyers know how to raise defenses of proportionality and reasonableness. It will take effect on July 1. People can be convicted under Mississippi's habitual laws in one of two ways. Both versions of the habitual law: Mandate prison time, making people ineligible for common alternatives to incarceration, like probation, no matter how minor the offense. The new law, known as the Mississippi Earned Parole Eligibility Act, loosens Mississippi's parole requirements, which are currently among the most restrictive in the nation. The exceptions to this are persons convicted of first or second-degree murder, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and habitual offenders, who remain ineligible for parole. AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 99-19-81, 99-19-83 AND 47-7-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT A HABITUAL OFFENDER MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE IF THE OFFENDER SERVES TEN YEARS OF A SENTENCE OF 40 YEARS OR MORE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 'Habitual Offender' Laws Imprison Thousands for Small CrimesSometimes for Life Data obtained by The Appeal show nearly 2,000 people in Mississippi and Louisiana are serving longand sometimes lifesentences after they were labeled "habitual offenders." But most are behind bars for small crimes like drug possession. The "little" law ensures someone with two prior convictions will serve the maximum possible sentence for their third felony. Mississippi's habitual offender laws are causing "extreme" prison sentences that are disproportionately affecting African American men and are costing the state millions of dollars for decades of incarceration, according to a new report released Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, by a nonprofit . Large majorities of lawmakers in both of Mississippi's Republican-dominated chambers approved the changes earlier this year. The court can give these individuals an enhanced sentence that often results in life in prison regardless of the severity of the third offense. The reason these two codes are infamous is that they require the minimum sentencing to be the maximum sentencing. Mississippi has two habitual laws that can be used by prosecutors to increase prison terms. The youngest is 35 and the oldest is 71, but both are serving life sentences without parole in Mississippi prisons for nonviolent crimes. An Act To Amend Sections 99-19-81, 99-19-83 And 47-7-3, Mississippi Code Of 1972, To Provide That A Habitual Offender May Be Eligible For Parole If The Offender Serves Ten Years Of A Sentence Of 40 Years Or More; And For Related Purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: SECTION 1. Mississippi has two habitual laws, often referred to as the " little habitual law " and the " big habitual law ," said Bennett. Asked about the governor's thoughts towards reforming habitual offender laws, press secretary Bailey Martin wrote in a June 11 email, "Governor Reeves believes that Mississippi should focus on a full, multi-year implementation of the criminal justice reforms passed in 2014 and 2021 before any additional legislation regarding habitual . Mississippi DUI law code section 63-11-30 states that it is unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or an intoxicant with a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or greater. Full Text How Do Mississippi's Habitual Laws Work? Mississippi Code 99-19-81 and Mississippi Code 99-19-83 are the two main ones that lawmakers are trying to adjust. People sentenced under this law can see their sentences increase by decades, even up to life. It is not necessary for a person stopped on suspicion of DUI in Mississippi to show signs of impairment, if that person's BAC level is .08% or greater they are in . Mississippi HB219 Full Text Summary AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 99-19-81 AND 99-19-83, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT UNDER THE HABITUAL OFFENDER SENTENCING LAW ANY CONVICTION FOR A DRUG OFFENSE OR A NONVIOLENT CRIME SHALL NOT BE UTILIZED IN COMPUTING WHETHER A PERSON HAS TWO PRIOR CONVICTIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. Currently, a few laws in the Mississippi justice system mandate minimum sentencing for habitual offenders.