Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 10 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 35P, inserted by section 12 of chapter 15 of the acts of 1996, the following section:-

Section 35Q. There is hereby established on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund known as the Diversity Awareness Education Trust Fund. Said fund shall consist of monies paid to the commonwealth pursuant to the provisions of section thirty-nine of chapter two hundred and sixty-five, and any interest or investment earnings on such monies. The state treasurer shall be the custodian of said fund, and shall receive, deposit, and invest all monies transmitted under the provisions of said section thirty-nine, and shall credit interest and earnings on said fund to said trust fund. Upon request of the chief justice for administration and management of the trial court, the state treasurer shall pay such funds as may be appropriated out of the income and receipts of said fund for the purposes of developing and maintaining diversity awareness educational programs and courses for persons convicted of crimes pursuant to said section thirty-nine in such manner as the chief justice for administration and management of the trial court may direct.

SECTION 2. Chapter 265 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 39, as appearing in the 1994 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 39. (a) Whoever commits an assault or a battery upon a person or damages the real or personal property of a person with the intent to intimidate such person because of such person's race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than two and one-half years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The court may also order restitution to the victim in any amount up to three times the value of property damage sustained by the owners of such property. For the purposes of this section, the term "disability" shall have the same meaning as "handicap" as defined in subsection 17 of section one of chapter one hundred and fifty-one B; provided, however, that for purposes of this section, the term "disability" shall not include any condition primarily resulting from the use of alcohol or a controlled substance as defined in section one of chapter ninety-four C.

(b) Whoever commits a battery in violation of this section and which results in bodily injury shall be punished by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. For purposes of this section, "bodily injury" shall mean substantial impairment of the physical condition, including, but not limited to, any burn, fracture of any bone, subdural hematoma, injury to any internal organ, or any injury which occurs as the result of repeated harm to any bodily function or organ, including human skin.

There shall be a surcharge of one hundred dollars on a fine assessed against a defendant convicted of a violation of this section; provided, however, that moneys from such surcharge shall be delivered forthwith to the treasurer of the commonwealth and deposited in the Diversity Awareness Education Trust Fund established under the provisions of section thirty-nine Q of chapter ten. In the case of convictions for multiple offenses, said surcharge shall be assessed for each such conviction.

A person convicted under the provisions of this section shall complete a diversity awareness program designed by the secretary of the executive office of public safety in consultation with the Massachusetts commission against discrimination and approved by the chief justice for administration and management of the trial court. A person so convicted shall complete such program prior to release from incarceration or prior to completion of the terms of probation, whichever is applicable.