H3449: An Act requiring audiovisual recordings of certain police interrogations Building on a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision, this legislation requires that custodial interrogations of suspects in the most serious crimes be filmed. With this video record, jurors will be…

H3450: An Act relative to the classification and punishment for certain offenses in the commonwealth This bill reclassifies some low level, non-violent felonies as misdemeanors. For example, the bill increases the amount for felony shoplifting from $250 to $950. The…

H3448: An Act relative to fees for indigent defendants This bill removes any fees facing indigent criminal defendants seeking their constitutional right to counsel. Bill Text NPR: “As Court Fees Rise, The Poor Are Paying The Price” Washington Post: “Indigent…

H3451: An Act prohibiting the solitary confinement of inmates 21 years of age or younger This bill bans solitary confinement for those 21 and under, except in limited circumstances. Research has established that brain development continues into the mid-20s. Solitary…

H1559: An Act to promote public safety by improving the parole process H1559 is designed to make the parole process more predictable and transparent. The bill establishes a rebuttable presumption that prisoners should be released under parole supervision once eligible,…

H1556: An Act providing further protection for Grand Jurors Grand jurors have expressed dissatisfaction that they are only exempt from future service for the same amount of time (three years) as trial jurors, despite the significantly greater commitment required of…

H1558: An Act to Define Inducing a Minor into Prostitution In response to a 2011 Appeals Court decision, this bill provides a much needed clarification to this criminal statute by broadening the circumstances under which someone can be prosecuted for…

H1557: An Act to properly punish the solicitation of felony crimes Currently in the Commonwealth, the crime of solicitation (encouraging someone else to commit a crime) is a misdemeanor, even when the crime being solicited is a felony. So, for example,…