Raise the Age: Keep 18-to 20-year-olds out of the adult criminal justice system (H.1923/S.1061) Fact Sheet

Older adolescents in the adult criminal justice system have the highest recidivism rates in Massachusetts: our current system isn’t working. Instead of focusing on punishment, the juvenile justice system focuses on young people’s rehabilitation, including education, mental health services, and employment resources.

Diversion: An act promoting diversion of juveniles to community supervision and services (H.1695/S.1051) Fact Sheet

Expanding judicial diversion allows for a neutral party to decide if a youth and public safety are better served through alternatives to the juvenile justice system. The collateral consequences of court processing are harsh and long term. Through diversion, courts can still hold young people accountable without the risk of detention or adjudication.

Equity: An Act Improving Juvenile Justice Data Collection (H.2028/S.1054) Fact Sheet

Demand transparency in legal system responses to youth by requiring reporting of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity data at major decision points to allow us to see disparities where they occur and to identify policies or practices to reduce these disparities.

School Exclusion: An Act to remedy disparities in students’ educational achievement (H.730/ S.376) Fact Sheet

This bill preserves a child’s right to education by requiring a basic determination that the case will move forward in court and requires that the felony be a “serious violent felony” before a student is excluded from school. 

School Safety: An Act Relative to Safer Schools (Rep. Sabadosa HD.4297/ Sen. R. Kennedy S.387 - FACT SHEET

Building on the reforms of the policing reform bill of 2020, this bill improves accountability and transparency for school-based policing while providing grants for districts to develop more holistic safety practices that do not rely on school-based police.

Education: An Act to Ensure Educational Rights are Upheld for Incarcerated Youth (H.620/S.1721) Fact Sheet

While Massachusetts prides itself as having one of the highest rates of educational quality and education in the nation, these rankings hide local and state failures at upholding the educational rights of all children and youth.  Unlike teens in the juvenile system, school-aged youth incarcerated in adult correctional facilities do not receive the education that they are entitled to by law. 

Youthful Offender: An Act promoting fairness in youthful offender indictments (H.1918/ S.1240) Fact Sheet

Youthful Offender indictments (about 2% of juvenile delinquency proceedings) open up adult sentencing for youth between ages 14 and 18 prosecuted in juvenile court. The bill seeks to make Youthful Offender (YO) indictments fairer by: (1) raising the age of YO eligibility from age 14 to age 16 and (2) removing the “one strike” of a prior DYS commitment opening up adult sentencing.

GPS Monitoring: An Act to Enhance Fairness and Increase Positive Outcomes for Children (H.1658/S.1050) Fact Sheet

The juvenile justice system’s inadequate regulation and oversight has contributed to the overuse of electronic monitoring, resulting in negative life outcomes for these young individuals. This bill (1) requires regular judicial review; (2) “day for day” credit towards a youth’s maximum sentence; and (3) require data collection on use of GPS monitoring.

Police Interrogations: An Act Protecting Youth During Custodial Interrogations (Rep. Sangiolo H.1984/ Sen. Creem S.108) – Fact Sheet

This bill protects the constitutional rights of young people by requiring videotaping and that an attorney is present at the reading of Miranda rights and during police interrogations when a youth has a pending felony charge.

Police Deception: An Act Ensuring Integrity in Juvenile Interrogations (Rep. Sabadosa h.1979/ Sen. DiDomencio S.1065) – Fact Sheet

Interrogations of adolescents by law enforcement, particularly with coercive or deceptive means, are more likely to result in false confessions and wrongful convictions, with socio-economic status and foster care involvement driving these unjust outcomes. This bill prohibits deception by law enforcement in interrogations.