Amending certain archaic laws
S2564 is a housekeeping and law-revision bill that both modernizes Massachusetts statutes and removes obsolete criminal-law provisions. The bill creates a permanent law revision commission within Chapter 3 to review the common law, statutes, and judicial decisions for defects, anachronisms, unconstitutional or repealed provisions, and opportunities to improve the accessibility of state law. The commission would include legislative, executive, prosecutorial, defense, academic, and historical representation, meet at least four times a year, and report recommendations and draft legislation after each regular session.
The bill also makes a series of targeted changes to the General Laws, including repealing or amending provisions tied to outdated offenses and archaic terminology. It repeals several sections of Chapter 272 and related cross-references, revises the definition and penalty for a public lewd and lascivious act, and updates language in statutes and court form references that formerly used terms such as “common night walker,” “sodomy,” and “unnatural act.” It also directs the commission to consider open-source tools to improve the openness and accessibility of state laws.
The bill would affect multiple chapters of the General Laws, especially criminal-law and procedure provisions in Chapters 127, 272, 276, and 277, by deleting obsolete references and repealing several antiquated sections. It would also establish a new permanent law revision commission with ongoing duties to identify outdated, inequitable, or unconstitutional laws and to recommend statutory consolidation and modernization. In practical terms, the measure would reshape how Massachusetts periodically reviews and updates its laws, while also cleaning up statutory text and court forms that still reflect older criminal offenses and terminology.
The available voting history shows strong support for the bill: the Senate passed it to be engrossed on a 40-0 roll call. No committee transcript is available, but the unanimous vote suggests broad agreement that the bill is a noncontroversial modernization and cleanup measure. The overall tone of the legislation is reform-oriented and administrative rather than ideological, focusing on legal clarity, consistency, and accessibility.
No direct opposition is reflected in the provided materials, and the unanimous Senate vote indicates little visible controversy. The main substantive issue embedded in the bill is the removal of archaic criminal statutes and terminology, which could draw attention because it changes how certain offenses are described and codified. However, the bill also preserves a revised offense for public lewd and lascivious conduct, suggesting an effort to distinguish between eliminating obsolete provisions and retaining enforceable public-order laws.