Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Chairman Eldridge, Chairman Day, and Members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary:
My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the political director for Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide multi-issue advocacy group focused on fighting for a more equitable, just, democratic, and sustainable Commonwealth.
We believe in an approach to public safety that centers the public health and well-being of all. For that to be possible, we must end practices that inflict long-term punishment on individuals for crimes not committed and even for crimes committed, and must ensure that our policies procedures embody respect for the dignity of all.
We thus urge you to give a favorable report to H.4150: An Act banning the use of tear gas by law enforcement and to H.1531 / S.980: An Act relative to expungement of juvenile and young adult records.
H.4150: Banning Tear Gas
The use of chemical weapons is banned in war, and it should be banned on our streets.
Last year, amidst the outbreak of protests following the murder of George Floyd, the president of the American Thoracic Society called for a moratorium on the use of tear gas and chemical weapons by police: “They cause significant short- and long-term respiratory health injury and likely propagate the spread of viral illnesses, including COVID-19.” [1]
The American Academy of Ophthalmology likewise condemned the use of tear gas, noting that it causes “serious eye injuries, including hyphema, uveitis, necrotizing keratitis, coagulative necrosis, symblepharon, secondary glaucoma, cataracts and traumatic optic neuropathy and loss of sight.” [2]
Recent research has also shown that exposure to tear gas among soldiers increases the risk of contracting bronchitis. [3]
The use of tear gas to inflict short-term bodily harm and the possibility of long-term debilitation is similarly a perversion of the justice system: it enables police officers to inflict punishment for crimes not charged, not convicted, and not even committed. Police officers should not be given such extrajudicial power, and we should never be advancing forms of punishment that cause long-term debilitation if we care about the health of society as a whole.
At a time when many politicians and community leaders are discussing how to rebuild trust between communities and law enforcement, how to demilitarize policing, and how to rethink our approaches to and definitions of public safety, banning tear gas is a vital step.
H.1531 / S.980: Juvenile Expungement
In 2018, Massachusetts passed a comprehensive criminal justice reform bill that created an opportunity to expunge juvenile and adult criminal records for individuals whose offense was charged prior to their twenty-first birthday. This was an important step, but the bill limited the opportunity for expungement to individuals with one case on their record. Individuals with even just two cases on their record were ineligible.
These bills would eliminate the one-case restriction and instead limit eligibility by how long ago an individual had their last court case, allowing individuals to expunge their records if their last offense was three years (for misdemeanors) or five years (for felonies) and they have no subsequent court case since. They would reduce the number of offenses which are categorically ineligible for expungement, while preserving prosecutorial discretion. And they would reduce the time to seal juvenile records for non-adjudications and allow for automatic sealing of eligible
records.
A juvenile record can be a long-term barrier to accessing higher education, finding employment, or maintaining housing. Our corrections system should not be seeking to inflict such long-term negative consequences. We should be finding ways to best integrate individuals returning to society and ensure they have the opportunity for mobility, basic security, and meaningful participation in public life, all of which are beneficial for reducing recidivism.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Political Director
Progressive Massachusetts
[1] https://www.thoracic.org/about/newsroom/press-releases/journal/2020/tear-gas-use-during-covid-19-pandemic-irresponsible-moratorium-needed,-says-american-thoracic-society.php
