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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 281 FILED ON: 1/7/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1879 |
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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 | | Joseph D. McKenna |
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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 to ensure backyard privacy. |
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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:Joseph D. McKenna18th Worcester1/7/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 281 FILED ON: 1/7/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1879 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative McKenna of Sutton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1879) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Joseph D. McKenna relative to the videotaping or taking of moving digital images of activities in |
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| 20 | 20 | | the backyard of certain adjoining residential properties. The Judiciary. |
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| 21 | 21 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 1672 OF 2023-2024.] |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | An Act to ensure backyard privacy. |
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| 29 | 29 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 MGL Chapter 272 is amended by adding the following new section: |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2 SECTION XX: |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3 Section 1. Any owner or tenant of residential real property shall have a private right of |
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| 34 | 34 | | 4action for damages against any person who installs or affixes a video imaging device on property |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5adjoining such residential real property for the purpose of video taping or taking moving digital |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6images of the activities which occur in the backyard of the residential real property without the |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7written consent thereto of such owner and/or tenant with intent to harass, annoy, or alarm another |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8person, or with intent to threaten the person or property of another person. The provisions of this 2 of 2 |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9section shall not apply to any law enforcement personnel engaged in the conduct of their |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10authorized duties. |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11 Section 2. For the purposes of this section , “backyard” shall mean that portion of the |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12parcel on which residential real property is located which extends beyond the rear footprint of |
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| 43 | 43 | | 13the residential dwelling situated thereon, and to the side and rear boundaries of such parcel |
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| 44 | 44 | | 14extending beyond the rear footprint of such residential dwelling. |
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