Chap. 0435 An Act to provide for the punishment of habitual criminals.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

Section 1. Whoever has been twice convicted of crime, sentenced and committed to prison, in this or any other state, or once in this and once at least in any other state, for terms of not less than three years each, shall, upon conviction of a felony committed in this state after the passage of this act, be deemed to be an habitual criminal, and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for twenty-five years : provided, however, that if the person so convicted shall show to the satisfaction of the court before which such conviction was had that he was released from imprisonment upon either of said sentences, upon a pardon granted on the ground that he was innocent, such conviction and sentence shall not be considered as such under this act.
Section 2. When it shall appear to the governor and council that any person sentenced to the state prison as an habitual criminal has reformed, they may issue to him a permit to be at liberty during the remainder of his term of sentence, upon such conditions as they deem best; and they may revoke said permit at any time previous to its expiration. The violation by the holder of a permit, granted as aforesaid, of any of the terms or conditions of such permit, or the violation of any of the laws of this Commonwealth, shall of itself make void said permit.
Section 3. When any permit granted under the provisions of the preceding section has been revoked, or has become void as aforesaid, the governor shall issue his warrant authorizing the arrest of the holder of said permit and his return to said state prison. Said warrant may be served by any officer authorized to serve criminal process in any county in this Commonwealth. The holder of said permit, when returned to said state prison as aforesaid, shall be detained therein according to the terms of his original sentence ; and in computing the period of his confinement the time between his release upon said permit and his return to the state prison shall not be taken to be any part of the term of the sentence.
Approved June 16, 1887.