There are at least three ways to challenge an unlawful jail or prison sentence in Massachusetts.
First, Rule 30 of the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure allows inmates to file a motion asking the sentencing judge to revoke or revise his decision.
In the filing, the defendant must explain, in detail, how the sentence violates the law. The pertinent section of the rule reads as follows:
Any person who is imprisoned or whose liberty is restrained pursuant to a criminal conviction may at any time, as of right, file a written motion requesting the trial judge to release him or her or to correct the sentence then being served upon the ground that the confinement or restraint was imposed in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States or of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Next, in addition to a Rule 30 motion, defendants sentenced to state prison can request to have their sentence reviewed by the appellate division of the superior court. The appellate division consists of three superior court justices. These justices can also hear appeals from women inmates who have been sentenced to terms of five years or more.
Authority for this appellate division is found in M.G.L. c. 278, § 28A which, in part, states
There shall be an appellate division of the superior court for the review of sentences to the state prison imposed by final judgments in criminal cases, except in any case in which a different sentence could not have been imposed, and for the review of sentences to the reformatory for women for terms of more than five years imposed by final judgments in such criminal cases.
The justices sit in Boston or at a Massachusetts correctional facility or “at such other place as may be designated by the chief justice and at such times as he shall determine.”
The group currently meets every May and November.
Lastly, any defendant who believes that his sentence was unjust—even it does not include incarceration—can file a motion to revise or revoke the sentence within 60 days of its imposition.
This is done through Rule 29 which reads as follows:
The trial judge, upon the judge’s own motion, or the written motion of a defendant, filed within sixty days of a disposition, within sixty days of issuance of a rescript by an appellate court on direct review, or within sixty days of the disposition of criminal charges against a codefendant may, upon such terms and conditions as the judge shall order, revise or revoke such disposition if it appears that justice may not have been done.