What do eggs, lotion, and Slurpees have in common?
All of them have been deemed “dangerous weapons” in courts that made young people ineligible for judicial diversion to community supervision instead of incarceration.
This Thursday, the MA Senate will be voting on an important juvenile justice reform bill (S.2942) to expand opportunities for judicial diversion for youth, as well as another bill (S.2943) that eliminates the requirement that youth pay an $40 administrative bail fee as a condition of being released on bail.
The Senate also has the opportunity to strengthen these reforms by including an amendment (#4 to S.2942, filed by Sen. Pat Jehlen) to preserve the right to education of students who are accused of a felony offense allowing them to remain in school as long as their case has not moved towards an arraignment and that the felony be a “serious violent felony” before a student is suspended from school.
Can you contact your state senator in support of these reforms?
TOMORROW: Fair Share Canvass with Elizabeth Warren
Join Fair Share for Massachusetts and Senator Elizabeth Warren TOMORROW at 5:30 PM to canvass voters and spread the word to vote YES of Fair Share this November!
The kickoff will be at Lincoln Commons Park, Bryant and Cross Street, Malden.
RSVP HERE.
Tell Your Legislator: Pass Child Care Legislation This Legislative Session!
In early 2021, the Common Start Coalition drafted legislation, originally filed by Reps. Gordon & Madaro and Senators Lewis & Moran, that would establish a framework for delivering increased access to affordable, high-quality early education and child care to Massachusetts families, over the course of several years. On May 18, the Legislature’s Education Committee approved a landmark bill, H.4795/S.2883, titled An Act to Expand Access to High-Quality, Affordable Early Education and Care.
Major sections of the Education Committee’s legislation are heavily based on the Common Start bill. Now, we have until the end of the current legislative session on July 31 to pass H.4795/S.2883 and make progress this year on transforming the childcare system in Massachusetts!
