Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, § 32H (2026)

Prosecutions not to be continued or placed on file; suspension or reduction of sentence; eligibility for parole, etc

✓ current as of July 2026
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[Text of section applicable as provided by 2018, 69, Sec. 238.]

Section 32H. A prosecution commenced under paragraph (b) of section thirty-two, paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of section thirty-two A, paragraph (b) of section thirty-two B, sections thirty-two E thirty-two F and thirty-two J shall not be placed on file or continued without a finding, and the sentence imposed upon a person convicted of violating paragraph (b) of section 32 or sections 32E, 32F or 32J shall not be reduced to less than the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment as established in said section, nor shall any sentence of imprisonment imposed upon any person be suspended or reduced until such person shall have served said mandatory minimum term of imprisonment.

A person convicted of violating paragraph (b) of section 32 or sections 32E, 32F or 32J shall not, until he shall have served the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment established in said sections, be eligible for probation, furlough, work release or receive any deduction from his sentence for good conduct under sections 129C and 129D of chapter 127, except as authorized pursuant to section 32H1/2, nor shall he be eligible for parole except as authorized pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 32 or subsection (d) of section 32E section 32H1/2; provided, however, that the commissioner of correction, on the recommendation of the warden, superintendent or other person in charge of the correctional institution, or a sheriff, on the recommendation of the administrator of a county correctional institution, may grant to said offender a temporary release, subject to the rules and regulations of the institution and under the direction, control and supervision of the officers thereof, for the following purposes: (1) to attend the funeral of a relative, to visit a critically ill relative, to obtain emergency medical or psychiatric services unavailable at said institution; (2) to participate in education, training, or employment programs established under section 48 of chapter 127; (3) to participate in a program to provide services under section 49B or 49C of chapter 127; or (4) to engage in employment under a work release program under sections 49, 49A, 86F or 86G of chapter 127. Section 87 of chapter 276 shall not apply to any person, 18 years of age or older, charged with a violation of said sections, or to any child between age 14 and 18, so charged by indictment under section 54 of chapter 119.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 17 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1983–2025 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Bongarzone, 455 N.E.2d 1183 (Mass. 1983).
Commonwealth v. Bongarzone, 455 N.E.2d 1183 (Mass. 1983). “The Commonwealth argues that the applicability of G. L. c. 94C, § 32H, distinguishes this case from Gagnon (I) because it eliminates any conflict between the penalty provisions of G.”
Haverty v. Comm'r of Corr., 440 Mass. 1 (Mass. 2003). “, G. L. c. 94C, § 32H; G. L. c. 269, § 10E.”
Commonwealth v. Brown, 730 N.E.2d 297 (Mass. 2000). “See also G. L. c. 94C, § 32H (providing that for an individual convicted of trafficking in controlled substances “the sentence .”
Rodriguez v. Superintendent, 510 N.E.2d 286 (Mass. App. Ct. 1987). · cites it 5× “The respondents contended that G. L. c. 94C, § 32H, inserted by the 1980 Act, prohibited the application of good conduct deductions to the petitioner’s five-year mandatory minimum sentence if such deductions would effect his release in less than five years.”
Commonwealth v. Frias, 760 N.E.2d 300 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002). · cites it 2× “Prior to a 1989 amendment, G. L. c. 94C, § 32H, rendered individuals convicted of certain drug offenses ineligible for “ ‘probation, parole, furlough, or work release’ until they had served the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment.”
Commonwealth v. Sebastian S., 827 N.E.2d 708 (Mass. 2005). “90C, § 3 (motor vehicle infractions); G. L. c. 94C, § 32H (second and subsequent drug offenses); G.”
Commonwealth v. Galvin, 995 N.E.2d 27 (Mass. 2013). “94C, § 32A (d), would not be eligible for parole until he had served five years in State prison, *288 see G. L. c. 94C, § 32H, would, on enactment of the Crime Bill, be eligible for parole after serving three and one-half years in prison — the new mandatory minimum sentence.”
Commonwealth v. Neiman, 488 N.E.2d 772 (Mass. 1986). “Section 32H contains provisions for probation and parole noneligibility for prosecutions commenced under certain enumerated sections including § 32A (b), the repeat offender section.”
Commonwealth v. Silva, 488 N.E.2d 34 (Mass. App. Ct. 1986). “The minimum punishment established by § 32E(b) (3) is mandatory in the sense that G. L. c. 94C, § 32H, provides that a sentence under § 32E shall not be suspended or reduced until the mandatory minimum term has been served, nor until that time shall the prisoner be eligible for…”
Commonwealth v. Didas, 26 N.E.3d 732 (Mass. 2015). “See G. L. c. 94C, § 32H. For the same reasons that we discussed in Galvin , see 466 Mass.”
Commonwealth v. Simmons, 838 N.E.2d 1257 (Mass. App. Ct. 2005). “90B, § 8; G. L. c. 94C, § 32H; G. L. c. 265, § 43; G.”
Commonwealth v. Marcus, 454 N.E.2d 1277 (Mass. App. Ct. 1983). “1 The minimum punishment prescribed by § 32(h) is mandatory in the sense that G. L. c. 94C, § 32H, provides, in substance, that a sentence under § 32(h) shall not be suspended or reduced until the mandatory minimum term has been served, nor until that time shall the prisoner be…”
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