Petition Title:

Support the Conspiracy Sentencing Mitigation Act (CSMA) – Make the Punishment Fit the Attempted Crime, Not the Imagined One

 

Presented by: Keffier Savary

Jurisdiction proposed: California (with intent to expand nationwide)

---

📄 TEXT OF THE PROPOSED BILL

California Bill Proposal: The Conspiracy Sentencing Mitigation Act (CSMA)

BILL NUMBER: TB.D. 2026-04
AUTHOR: Keffier Savary
TITLE: An act to amend Penal Code sections related to conspiracy sentencing, specifically §§ 182–185, and to add § 186.1, to reduce conspiracy sentences to one tier below the completed target offense.

SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS

The People of the State of California hereby find and declare:

(a) Under current law, a person convicted of conspiracy to commit murder may receive the same sentence as a person convicted of first-degree murder, even though no victim was killed or physically injured.

(b) By contrast, a person convicted of attempted murder – where the victim was shot, stabbed, or seriously hurt but survived – often receives a lesser sentence than conspiracy to commit murder.

(c) This creates an irrational and unjust sentencing disparity:

· Conspiracy: No completed act, no victim harmed = maximum sentence (e.g., life in prison).
· Attempt: Overt act of violence, real injury to a victim = lesser sentence.

(d) Sentencing should be based on actual harm caused, not solely on the intention or planning, while still holding conspirators accountable.

(e) The purpose of this Act is to align conspiracy sentences with the principle that the punishment should fit the crime that actually occurred, not the crime that was merely planned.

SECTION 2. PROPOSED AMENDMENTS

Part 1 – Conspiracy sentencing reduced (Penal Code § 182 amended)

Conspiracy to commit any felony shall be punished as follows:

Target crime completed? Conspiracy sentence
Target crime is first-degree murder (actually committed) Life with possibility of parole after 25 years
Conspiracy only – target crime not completed No more than the sentence for attempted second-degree murder (currently 5, 7, or 9 years), unless a separate violent act occurred

Part 2 – New section § 186.1 (Mitigation rule for conspiracy)

(a) In any conspiracy case where the target offense was not completed, the court shall sentence the defendant to one penalty class lower than the completed version of the crime.

(b) For murder conspiracy without completed killing:
 Maximum sentence = Middle-term sentence for attempted voluntary manslaughter (not exceeding 6 years).

(c) No conspiracy sentence shall exceed the sentence for attempted commission of the same crime, unless the conspiracy resulted in serious bodily injury.

(d) If the conspiracy involved no injury, no death, and no completed substantive crime, the sentence shall be further mitigated by one-third (⅓) from the middle term of the attempted crime.

SECTION 3. SEVERABILITY

If any provision of this Act is held invalid, the remainder of the Act shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 4. EFFECTIVE DATE

This Act shall take effect immediately upon passage and shall apply to all sentencing hearings occurring after its effective date.

---

📢 CAMPAIGN STATEMENT (for Change.org)

Why I wrote this bill – By Keffier Savary

Right now, in California, you can get more years in prison for talking and planning a crime that never happened than for actually shooting someone who survives.

Think about that.

· Attempted murder – You pull the trigger. The victim is shot, bleeding, traumatized, in the hospital. Sentence: 5, 7, or 9 years (typically).
· Conspiracy to commit murder – Two people talk about killing someone. They buy a map. No one is touched. No one bleeds. The intended victim never even knows. Sentence: Life in prison (same as first-degree murder).

That is not justice. That is revenge against an idea.

I believe:
If you didn’t complete the crime – if no one died, if no one was physically hurt – you should not be punished as harshly as someone who actually killed another human being.

This bill does not excuse conspiracy. It does not let violent criminals walk free. It simply says: The sentence must fit the actual harm.

My bill fixes the disparity:

Crime Completed? Victim hurt? Current sentence (CA) Proposed sentence
Murder 1 Yes Dead 25–life No change
Attempted murder No (victim lives) Shot/stabbed 5,7,9 years No change
Conspiracy to murder No None 25–life Max 6 years

This applies to ALL conspiracies – burglary, arson, assault. No more life sentences for crimes that never happened.

Call to action:
Sign this petition to demand that the California Legislature pass the Conspiracy Sentencing Mitigation Act. Let’s start in California, then take this nationwide.

Justice means punishing what you did – not what you dreamed of doing.

👉 Sign now. Share everywhere.

— Keffier Savary

---

📝 SUGGESTED SIGNATURE PLEDGE (for Change.org)

I, the undersigned, support the Conspiracy Sentencing Mitigation Act as proposed by Keffier Savary. I call on the California State Legislature to pass this bill and on the Governor to sign it into law, so that no person serves a life sentence for a conspiracy where no crime was completed and no victim was physically harmed.