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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1555 FILED ON: 1/15/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1747 |
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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 | | Natalie M. Higgins and Lindsay N. Sabadosa |
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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 safe reporting. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester1/15/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/15/2025Susannah M. Whipps2nd Franklin1/30/2025James K. Hawkins2nd Bristol2/12/2025Mike Connolly26th Middlesex3/4/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk3/6/2025Michael O. MooreSecond Worcester3/6/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1555 FILED ON: 1/15/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1747 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representatives Higgins of Leominster and Sabadosa of Northampton, a petition |
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| 19 | 19 | | (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1747) of Natalie M. Higgins, Lindsay N. Sabadosa and others |
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| 20 | 20 | | relative to immunity from prosecution for certain crimes. The Judiciary. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act relative to safe reporting. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 22 . Chapter 94C is hereby amended by inserting after section 34A the |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2following section:- Section 34B: Any person who, in good faith, reports a crime shall not be |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3charged or prosecuted for (i) possession of a controlled substance under section 34, (ii) sex for |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4fee under chapter 272 section 53A subsections (a) or (b), (iii) loitering under chapter 161 section |
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| 33 | 33 | | 595, (iv) trespassing under chapter 266 section 120, (v) soliciting under chapter 272 section 8, or |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6(vi) conspiracy to commit any of the aforementioned offenses under chapter 94C section 40, or |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7found in violation of a condition of probation or pretrial release as determined by a court or a |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8condition of parole, as determined by the parole board if the evidence for the above enumerated |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9offenses was gained as a result of reporting a crime. |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10 If the reporting victim or witness later withdraws their cooperation with law enforcement, |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11the victim or witness may not be charged under those sections of the laws cited above. It is not 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12necessary that a reported crime be prosecuted or result in a conviction in order for the protection |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13provided by this section to be applicable. |
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