Massachusetts House and Senate and death penalty positions
No elected official's position should be taken for granted. Your Senator and Representative needs to hear from you every session on this important issue.
Political primer
In Massachusetts, all 160 House seats and 40 Senate seats are up for
election every two years, and a new session of the General Court is then
convened in January of odd-numbered years. Generally, bills for death
penalty reinstatement will be pre-filed or filed early in a session, and
sent to the Joint Judiciary Committee who will hold public hearings at
their convenience. Subsequently, the Committee will hold a vote and send a
recommendation of "pass" or "do not pass" back to the full House or Senate
(depending on where the bill originated). The bill may then be debated and
voted on (regardless of the Committee recommendation). Once this has
happened, the topic has been dealt with and (with some exceptions) may not be
raised again until the start of the next session.
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