Rep. Colleen Garry

Maddy summaryThis bill protects military parents' custody rights during service. It prevents courts from penalizing a parent for missing custody obligations due to military deployment, mobilization, or temporary duty. Courts can issue temporary custody orders during absence or delegate parenting time to family members (like grandparents or stepparents) to maintain the child's connection with the military parent. The bill also allows military parents to participate in hearings remotely via phone or video if their service affects in-person attendance. It directly affects military-connected families navigating custody arrangements.

Maddy summaryHD 3552 requires courts to consider non-custodial parents' ability to provide childcare when issuing child support orders in both divorce (Ch. 208) and out-of-wedlock support cases (Ch. 209C). The bill mandates courts to determine if childcare is necessary, and if the non-custodial parent is available, capable, and willing to provide it. If so, the court must include provisions allowing that parent to provide childcare services, without granting access to the custodial parent's home. Changes in the non-custodial parent's childcare availability can now serve as grounds to modify existing support orders. This bill directly affects parents involved in custody and support cases by altering how courts address childcare responsibilities.

Maddy summaryThis bill (HD 612) would ban Kratom in Massachusetts by adding it to the state's list of controlled substances under Class A. It directly affects anyone who uses, sells, or possesses Kratom, including consumers, retailers, and distributors. The key mechanism defines Kratom as any part of the *Mitragyna speciosa* plant or its compounds (like mitragynine), making possession without authorization illegal under Chapter 94C of Massachusetts law. The bill does not address medical use or enforcement details beyond this classification change.

Maddy summaryHD 894 prohibits research institutions and product testing facilities from separating infant nonhuman primates (such as monkeys) from their biological mothers for research or testing purposes, except when medically necessary for the health of either animal. If separation occurs for medical reasons, facilities must minimize distress without sedatives or restraint and reunite mother and infant as soon as possible. The law applies to facilities testing products like cosmetics, drugs, or medical devices and covers the first 12 months of an infant’s life. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health must create implementing regulations within 90 days of the bill’s passage.

Maddy summaryHD 3555, or "Kelsey's Bill," requires phone companies and in-vehicle security providers to share a user's location data with law enforcement during emergencies involving missing persons, immediate danger of death or serious harm, or emergency service calls. Phone companies must provide annual contact information to the state's public safety office to streamline these requests. The law protects companies from lawsuits if they share location data in good faith under these specific circumstances. This bill directly affects phone companies and law enforcement agencies by creating a clear, legal process for locating missing persons using mobile data.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates criminal penalties for two specific acts: concealing a child's death (to prevent determining if the child was born alive or murdered) and selling, trading, or buying minor children. It imposes prison terms of up to 5 years or local jail terms of up to 2.5 years for violating either provision. The law directly affects individuals who hide child deaths or engage in the commercial exchange of minors for money, property, or other value. It replaces an existing law on child death concealment and adds new language to address child trafficking-like activities. The focus is on establishing clear criminal consequences for these acts under Massachusetts law.

Maddy summaryHD 1879 updates Massachusetts law to clarify and strengthen protections against secret photography of intimate body parts. The bill defines key terms like "electronically surveils" (using devices to secretly capture images) and specifies "sexual or other intimate parts" as genitals, buttocks, pubic area, or female nipples. It increases penalties: up to 2.5 years in jail or $5,000 fine for adults, and up to 5 years in prison or $10,000 fine for minors or incompetent individuals. The law applies directly to anyone who secretly photographs another person's intimate areas without consent, with consent being a valid defense only if the victim was competent.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires parents, legal guardians, or caretakers of children under 16 to contact law enforcement or emergency personnel within 48 hours if a child's whereabouts are unknown, or within one hour of learning of a child's death. Failure to report a missing child within 48 hours carries a penalty of up to five years in state prison. Failing to report a child's death within one hour may result in up to five years in prison, or a $10,000 fine plus up to 2.5 years in a house of correction. The law directly affects caregivers responsible for minors under 16 and aims to enforce timely reporting of critical child safety incidents.

Maddy summaryThis bill prohibits courts from ordering unsupervised visitation between parents convicted of specific crimes against minors and their children. It directly affects parents convicted of offenses listed in Chapter 265 (e.g., sexual abuse, child endangerment) and Chapter 272 (e.g., child exploitation, trafficking) of the Massachusetts General Laws. The prohibition applies unless the child is of "suitable age" to consent and a court-appointed guardian ad litem determines the visitation is in the child’s best interest. The bill amends Sections 28 of Chapter 208 and Section 37 of Chapter 209 in the General Laws.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows victims of rape to petition courts to terminate the rapist's parental rights when a child is conceived during the crime. It applies to married women (via Section 1) and any mother (via Section 2) who has a child born from rape. The law presumes termination is in the child's best interest and accepts a guilty plea or conviction for rape (under MA law sections 22/22A) as conclusive proof the child was conceived through criminal conduct. Petitions may be filed at any time without additional evidence. The bill directly affects victims of rape and the children born from such crimes by creating a streamlined legal pathway to end the perpetrator's parental rights.