HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1073 FILED ON: 1/14/2015
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3444
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Kay Khan
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to searches of female inmates.
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PETITION OF:
Name: | District/Address: | Date Added: |
Kay Khan | 11th Middlesex | 1/14/2015 |
Brian M. Ashe | 2nd Hampden | 4/8/2015 |
Ruth B. Balser | 12th Middlesex | 4/8/2015 |
Gailanne M. Cariddi | 1st Berkshire | 4/9/2015 |
Cynthia S. Creem | First Middlesex and Norfolk | 4/14/2015 |
Marjorie C. Decker | 25th Middlesex | 4/8/2015 |
Kenneth J. Donnelly | Fourth Middlesex | 4/14/2015 |
Michelle M. DuBois | 10th Plymouth | 4/8/2015 |
Carole A. Fiola | 6th Bristol | 4/13/2015 |
Donald F. Humason, Jr. | Second Hampden and Hampshire | 4/14/2015 |
Peter V. Kocot | 1st Hampshire | 4/13/2015 |
Barbara A. L'Italien | Second Essex and Middlesex | 12/30/2019 |
Jay D. Livingstone | 8th Suffolk | 4/13/2015 |
Michael O. Moore | Second Worcester | 4/9/2015 |
Shaunna L. O'Connell | 3rd Bristol | 4/8/2015 |
Keiko M. Orrall | 12th Bristol | 4/14/2015 |
Denise Provost | 27th Middlesex | 4/9/2015 |
Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr. | 12th Hampden | 4/13/2015 |
David M. Rogers | 24th Middlesex | 4/13/2015 |
Benjamin Swan | 11th Hampden | 4/8/2015 |
Chris Walsh | 6th Middlesex | 4/8/2015 |
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1073 FILED ON: 1/14/2015
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3444
By Ms. Khan of Newton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3444) of Kay Khan and others for legislation to further regulate strip searches of inmates. The Judiciary. |
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)
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An Act relative to searches of female inmates.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Chapter 127 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 21, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, the following section:-
Section 21A. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
“Emergency or otherwise urgent situation”, a situation in which a correction officer determines that a specific inmate presents an immediate and serious threat to the inmate’s own safety or the safety of others.
“Strip search” a search in any correctional facility in which an inmate is required to remove all clothing and may include a visual inspection of a nude inmate’s oral, anal or vaginal cavity.
(b) Strip searches of inmates, including the videotaping thereof, shall not be conducted by or in the immediate vicinity of a correction officer or other employee of the opposite sex, except under an emergency or otherwise urgent situation. If during an emergency or otherwise urgent situation, a correction officer is required to operate the camera or be in the immediate vicinity of a strip search, the officer shall, immediately after the termination of such emergency or otherwise urgent situation, notify, in the case of a county correctional facility, the administrator or the administrator’s designee, or, in the case of a state correctional facility, the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee. Upon such notification, the administrator, the superintendent or such designees, shall produce a report detailing the situation.