{"id":342,"date":"2026-05-14T20:06:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T20:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=342"},"modified":"2026-05-14T20:06:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T20:06:19","slug":"bill-to-reduce-maximum-misdemeanor-sentences-by-one-day-passes-rhode-island-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=342","title":{"rendered":"Bill to reduce maximum misdemeanor sentences by one day passes Rhode Island Senate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For the sixth consecutive year, the Rhode Island Senate passed legislation to reduce the maximum sentence for a misdemeanor crime by one day as a way to protect immigrants from being detained or removed from the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Vice President Vance visits Maine to tout administration\u2019s crackdown on benefit fraud<\/a><\/p>\n

The sponsored by Senator Jonathan Acosta, a Central Falls Democrat, was approved by the chamber Tuesday with a 33-5 vote. All four of the chamber\u2019s Republicans and Senator Leonidas Raptakis, a Coventry Democrat, voted against the proposed change to the definition of a misdemeanor to be an offense with a maximum sentence of 364 days rather than 365 days.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eight states cap misdemeanor sentences at 364 days: California, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Utah passed such a law in 2019, but repealed the part of it applying to violent class A misdemeanors against a person in 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Acosta\u2019s bill now heads to the House for consideration, where similar versions of the legislation have stalled at the committee level due to what chamber spokesperson Larry Berman said was a lack of consensus.<\/span><\/p>\n

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