Committee adopts judicial-safety-valve amendment to SB 14 and reports bills on fentanyl/psilocybin with mixed votes

In an extended executive session the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee considered major revisions to SB 14 (fentanyl-related penalties) and related language in SB 15, including a package of changes the chair described as a ‘‘judicial safety valve’’ and other sentencing and diversion conditions.

Chairman Roy presented a rewrite intended to preserve strong penalties for suppliers of lethal fentanyl while allowing judges discretion to avoid mandatory minimums for defendants who meet strict eligibility criteria. The chair explained the intent: to ensure those bringing fentanyl into the state and distributing it to children and others receive a meaningful sentence while allowing judicial discretion for lower-level defendants who comply with treatment and assistance requirements.

The adopted amendment (numerical tag as read in executive session) sets out eligibility criteria for a judge to impose a sentence below the mandatory minimum: no prior violent or recent drug convictions within seven years; no use or…