Summary — S.1034 (2025): "An Act relative to archaic laws" (Massachusetts)
Status & key dates
- Senate Docket No. 33; filed 01/06/2025.
- Petitioners/sponsors: Sen. William N. Brownsberger and Sen. Joanne M. Comerford.
- Referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary; hearing scheduled 04/08/2025 (A-2).
- Notes: Similar matter appeared in the 2023–2024 session (see S.2561).
Purpose / intent
- Establish a permanent, legislatively‑based law revision commission to identify, review, and recommend repeal or modernization of obsolete, anachronistic, or inequitable provisions in the Commonwealth’s statutes and common law; and to make a set of targeted statutory edits to remove or update specific archaic criminal and statutory provisions.
Major provisions
Creates a Permanent Law Revision Commission (new Section 76, Chapter 3, General Laws)
- Membership: co‑chairs are the chairs (or designees) of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary; plus the Attorney General (or designee); four attorneys admitted in the Commonwealth (appointed by Senate President, Speaker, and the two legislative minority leaders); one appointee each from the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association and the Committee for Public Counsel Services; and three gubernatorial appointees (one retired judge, one law‑school faculty member, and one historian with expertise in Commonwealth law).
- Staffing: counsel to the Senate and counsel to the House jointly provide personnel to coordinate the commission and assist in drafting legislation.
- Terms & vacancies: appointed members serve staggered four‑year terms; vacancies filled by original appointing authority.
- Duties: examine common law, statutes, judicial decisions to identify defects/anachronisms; consider recommendations from ALI, NCCUSL, bar associations, judges, public; recommend repeals, consolidations, clarifications, and measures to improve openness/accessibility of state law (including use of open‑source tools).
- Meetings & reporting: meet at least quarterly; submit an annual report at the close of each regular legislative session with findings and draft legislation to clerks of the Senate and House and relevant committees (Judiciary, Ways & Means).
Targeted statutory amendments and repeals
- The bill includes a series of specific edits across multiple chapters (examples shown in the text):
- Repeals and replaces outdated provisions in chapter 272 (public indecency/lewd acts), chapter 277 (criminal procedure/definitions), chapter 127, chapter 276, chapter 260, and others.
- Replaces archaic phrasing (e.g., “common night walkers”) with neutral terms (“person”).
- Replaces older criminal formulations with modernized language and penalties—for example, a substituted Section 35 creates an offense for lewd and lascivious public acts punishable by up to $200 fine and up to 6 months in jail (as drafted).
- The text also directs consolidation and clean‑up of cross‑references throughout affected statutes.
Fiscal and operational impact
- Commission staffing is provided by existing counsel offices; no explicit new funding is provided in the bill text. Expected fiscal impact is likely modest (staff time for counsel/offices and legislative drafting); specific agency or budgetary effects are not detailed in the bill text.
Who would be affected
- Legislature and legislative staff (new permanent commission, regular reporting and drafting work).
- Judiciary, prosecutors, public defenders, and courts (statutory changes affecting criminal offenses and terminology).
- The public and legal community (clarified, modernized, and more accessible body of law).
- State agencies tasked with implementing or enforcing specific statutory provisions that are repealed or revised.
Potential implications
- Modernizes and clarifies Massachusetts law, removes outdated criminal formulations and offensive/archaic language, and aims to reduce legal confusion caused by anachronistic statutes.
- May change the substance and penalties of some minor offenses (as drafted), which could affect charging, sentencing, or administrative applications until courts interpret changes.
- Centralizes a permanent mechanism for ongoing statutory review, which could accelerate future law reform and codification/cleanup efforts.
Important note about provided materials
- The packet you provided also contains text for an unrelated Idaho bill (Idaho S.B. 1034) concerning foster home health and safety requirements and administrative rule transfers. That Idaho drafting is a different S.B. 1034 and is not part of the Massachusetts "archaic laws" bill summarized above.
