Effort to raise age of criminal responsibility in Massachusetts gets boost from Boston Celtics

The effort to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 20 in Massachusetts got a big boost Wednesday from a star of the Boston Celtics… "Society continues to evolve. I think the system that serves it should evolve as well," he said. Brown joined lawmakers making the push to keep young people ages 18 to 20 in the juvenile system. "It makes all the sense in the world. I think all of us in this room, including myself, were one decision away from, you know, being in a different situation," Brown said.

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Post-Dobbs landscape prompts Massachusetts lawmakers to revisit archaic, anti-LGBTQ+ laws

The Massachusetts Senate last week unanimously passed the bill, which would remove outdated laws against "sodomy," "night walking" and "unnatural acts." … "We need to take off the books archaic laws that, in theory, could become enforceable if the Supreme Court moves further right," says Sen. William Brownsberger, who sponsored this bill with Sen. Julian Cyr.

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Senate Votes To Ban Declawing Cats, Remove "Archaic" Laws, Protect Real Estate Appraisals

Senators moved as a unit on Thursday, unanimously passing a trio of bills early in the busy seven-month stretch at the end of the legislative session. The Senate unanimously approved bills to prohibit inhumane cat declawing (S 2552), require real estate appraisers licensed (S 2550), and remove so-called “archaic laws” from state statute (S 2551).

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‘We’ve been fighting so hard’: Senate passes bill to address wheelchair repairs that can drag on for months

Wheelchair users took a victory lap at the State House on Thursday after the state Senate passed legislation to address a national crisis, chronic delays of months or longer for even the most basic repairs to chairs.

“We’ve been fighting so hard just to get here,” said Pamela Daly, of Charlestown, after the Senate vote. “They’re simple mechanical problems or they’re simple parts that need to be ordered. This is not rocket science.”

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Fentanyl Test Strips, Wheelchair Repairs Up For Early 2024 Senate Action

Senators on Tuesday teed up the three bills to debate at their Thursday session: to protect people who administer or use fentanyl test strips from criminal liability (S 2458), expand wheelchair warranty protections for people with disabilities (S 152), and require new guidance on how police officers should interact with people with autism (S 2204).

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