155 Mass. 163 | Mass. | 1892
Under the St. of 1887, c. 435, § 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,” etc.
The defendant contends that this statute can only be applied to cases in which the former convictions on which sentences were imposed were subsequent to the passage of the act, and that, if it included cases in which the former convictions were before, it would be unconstitutional.
The statute relates to the judgment to be rendered and the sentence to be imposed in cases arising after it goes into effect.
That statutes of this kind are constitutional is settled by well considered adjudications of this court. Ross’s case, 2 Pick. 165. Commonwealth v. Phillips, 11 Pick. 28. Plumbly v. Commonwealth, 2 Met. 413. Commonwealth v. Hughes, 133 Mass. 496. Commonwealth v. Marchand, ante, 8. Exceptions overruled.