HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1071        FILED ON: 1/13/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 154

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act relative to the humane treatment of disabled persons..

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. Section 16 of Chapter 6A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 official edition, is hereby amended by adding at the thereof the following text:-

Disabled citizens, as all other citizens of the Commonwealth, are entitled to equal protection under Article CXIV of the Massachusetts Constitution, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of handicap, and the full protection of the laws of the Commonwealth, which prohibit the use of corporal punishment on school children and prisoners.

No program funded, operated, licensed, or approved by any agency or subdivision of the Commonwealth shall administer to any person with a physical or mental disability any procedure which causes obvious signs of physical pain, including, but not limited to, hitting, pinching, and electric shock for the purposes of changing the behavior of the person.

No such program may employ any form of physical contact or punishment that is otherwise prohibited by law, or would be prohibited if used on a non-disabled person.

No such program may employ any procedure which denies a person with a physical or mental disability adequate sleep, food, shelter, bedding or bathroom facilities.