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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 618 FILED ON: 1/17/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1490 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Cynthia Stone Creem |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to a fresh start. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Cynthia Stone CreemNorfolk and MiddlesexVanna Howard17th Middlesex2/9/2023 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 618 FILED ON: 1/17/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1490 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Ms. Creem, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1490) of Cynthia Stone Creem and |
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| 19 | 19 | | Vanna Howard for legislation relative to a fresh start. Public Safety and Homeland Security. |
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| 20 | 20 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 21 | 21 | | _______________ |
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| 22 | 22 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 23 | 23 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | An Act relative to a fresh start. |
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| 26 | 26 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 27 | 27 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 28 | 28 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 98F of Chapter 41 is herby amended by striking out in the last |
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| 29 | 29 | | 2sentence the word "18" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- "25". |
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| 30 | 30 | | 3 SECTION 1. Section 98F of Chapter 41 is herby amended by striking out in the last |
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| 31 | 31 | | 4sentence the word "18" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- "25". |
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| 32 | 32 | | 5 SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any special or general laws to the contrary, Chapter 41 of |
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| 33 | 33 | | 6the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 98F the following section:- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 7 Section 98FF. (a) There shall be within the Executive Office of Public Safety a Fresh |
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| 35 | 35 | | 8Start Program to: (i) serve the purpose of removing the negative collateral consequences, |
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| 36 | 36 | | 9including but not limited to difficulty in gaining employment, mental health challenges, and |
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| 37 | 37 | | 10varied other barriers to social and economic mobility, of past stories reported online about an |
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| 38 | 38 | | 11individual’s criminal offense(s) or other events as deemed applicable by the program; (ii) allow |
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| 39 | 39 | | 12any individual the opportunity to submit a request to update, remove, or anonymize a story 2 of 3 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 13published online through a specified media outlet(s); (iii) share written recommendations to |
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| 41 | 41 | | 14specified media outlets with respect to each individual's request for changes to past stories based |
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| 42 | 42 | | 15upon the review of the program, providing that all media outlets will be encouraged to accept the |
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| 43 | 43 | | 16recommended decisions of the program; and (iv) include the promotion of diverse marketing and |
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| 44 | 44 | | 17promotion efforts to ensure awareness of this program to the general public. |
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| 45 | 45 | | 18 (b) There shall be a Fresh Start Coordinating Council that will be responsible for: (a) |
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| 46 | 46 | | 19identifying best practices for pre-publication reporting and unpublishing protocols; (b) |
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| 47 | 47 | | 20establishing a set of guidelines for the review of applications submitted by all individuals based |
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| 48 | 48 | | 21upon the above mentioned best practices, providing that such guidelines shall be adopted only |
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| 49 | 49 | | 22after the approval of the Council by a majority vote in the affirmative of those members so |
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| 50 | 50 | | 23voting; (d) providing recommendations to the Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety |
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| 51 | 51 | | 24and Security for the appointment of the Director of the Fresh Start Program, known as the |
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| 52 | 52 | | 25Director; (e) developing best practices and journalistic standards for the reporting or un-reporting |
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| 53 | 53 | | 26of any offenses committed by young adults under the age of 25; and (f) approving and managing |
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| 54 | 54 | | 27any appeal process for final decisions of all applications based on the guidelines set by the |
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| 55 | 55 | | 28Council. |
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| 56 | 56 | | 29 (c) The Council shall consist of twenty-five members to be appointed with the approval |
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| 57 | 57 | | 30of the Governor. Said Council members shall advise the Director in all matters relating to |
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| 58 | 58 | | 31oversight and supervision of the program. The Council shall be comprised of the following |
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| 59 | 59 | | 32members: one of whom shall be a member of the house of representatives to be appointed by the |
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| 60 | 60 | | 33Speaker of the House, one of whom shall be a member of the Senate to be appointed by the |
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| 61 | 61 | | 34Senate President; one of whom shall be the Secretary of Public Safety and Security or a |
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| 62 | 62 | | 35designee; not more than ten representatives from daily newspapers or other media outlets in 3 of 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | 36Massachusetts that have an online publication; one of whom shall be the executive director of the |
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| 64 | 64 | | 37American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, Inc. or a designee; one of whom shall be the |
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| 65 | 65 | | 38Chief Justice of the Trial Court or designee; one of whom shall be the president of the |
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| 66 | 66 | | 39Massachusetts Major City Chiefs of Police Association; one of whom shall be the Chief Counsel |
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| 67 | 67 | | 40of the Committee for Public Counsel Services or designee; one of whom shall be the President of |
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| 68 | 68 | | 41the Massachusetts District Attorney Association or designee; three of whom have past histories |
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| 69 | 69 | | 42of incarceration to be appointed by the Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and |
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| 70 | 70 | | 43Security; and no less than four of whom to be appointed by the Governor, including |
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| 71 | 71 | | 44representatives of two organizations dedicated to serving justice-involved young adults. Said |
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| 72 | 72 | | 45members shall elect a chairperson and shall meet at least quarterly for a minimum of two year |
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| 73 | 73 | | 46terms as set by the Secretary. The Council shall submit a report annually by July 1 to the |
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| 74 | 74 | | 47governor and the clerks of the senate and house. The report shall include: (i) data related to the |
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| 75 | 75 | | 48percentage of applications received; (ii) periodic benchmarks for, and strategies to achieve, any |
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| 76 | 76 | | 49stated goals; (iii) data demonstrating the number and percentage of decisions that were accepted |
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| 77 | 77 | | 50by media outlets; and (iv) any additional recommendations or findings. |
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