Amendment ID: S3072-47

Amendment 47

Playgrounds

Mr. Keenan, Ms. Edwards and Mr. Eldridge move that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section XX, the following section:-

SECTION XX. Chapter 45 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 25 the following section:-

Section 26. (a) For purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

“Civil arrest”, an arrest that is not for the sole or primary purpose of preparing the person subject to such arrest for criminal prosecution, for an alleged violation of the criminal law of: (A) the commonwealth or another jurisdiction within the United States, for which a sentence of a term of imprisonment is authorized by law; or (B) the United States, for which a sentence of a term of imprisonment is authorized by law, and for which federal law requires an initial appearance before a federal judge, federal magistrate or other judicial officer, pursuant to the federal rules of criminal procedure that govern initial appearances.

“Playground”, any building, structure or land owned, rented or leased by any municipality or the commonwealth for the purposes of promoting recreation, play, sport and physical education.

(b) A person shall be privileged from civil arrest in any park or playground.

(c) Parks and recreation departments shall adopt and implement a policy regarding interactions with law enforcement agents engaged in civil law enforcement which shall include, at a minimum, but not be limited to: (i) the designation of a contact person or persons to be notified of the presence of, or information requests from, law enforcement agents engaged in civil law enforcement; (ii) procedures for documenting all interactions with law enforcement agents engaged in civil law enforcement; and (iii) procedures for informing the city or town manager.

(d) The department, in consultation with the attorney general, shall prepare and publish on its website model policies consistent with the requirements of this section. The department shall, in consultation with the attorney general, also prepare and publish a model training for informing staff of local parks and recreation departments on how to respond to requests relating to civil law enforcement.

(e) The requirements of subsections (b) and (c) shall apply regardless of whether a local parks and recreation department has adopted the policy required by subsection (c).

(f) An individual aggrieved by a violation of this section may apply for a writ of habeas corpus if such person has reasonable cause to believe that a civil arrest in violation of this section has occurred. The attorney general shall be permitted to bring a suit in law or equity for civil arrests in violation of this section.

(g) Nothing in this section shall require a state or local law enforcement officer to interfere with or assist the actions of a federal official engaged in civil immigration enforcement. Nothing in this section shall confer upon any state or local law enforcement officer the authority, obligation or responsibility to enforce, interpret, supervise, assess compliance with or prevent conduct governed by this section.