Senator Creem has served in a public capacity for more than 30 years, first as a member and President of the Newton Board of Aldermen, and then as a member of the Governor’s Council prior to becoming a State Senator in 1999. Among her top priorities since entering the Legislature, Cindy has been the leading advocate for restoring judicial discretion in sentencing and eliminating across-the-board mandatory minimum sentences, and for increasing safeguards for gun ownership.
Majority Leader Sen. Creem has been appointed by Senate President Spilka as one of two co-chairs of the Task Force on Emerging Adults in the Criminal Justice System to examine and study the treatment of individuals ages 18-24 in the court and corrections systems and the impacts of the treatment on those emerging adults. This task force was established pursuant to Section 221 of Chapter 69 or the Acts of 2018.
“Criminal Justice Reform, especially Juvenile Justice, has been one of my top legislative priorities for many years and I am pleased to be appointed as one of the co-chairs of this Task Force to explore these important issues,” said Creem. “Our young adults deserve a justice system that understands and responds to their unique needs.”
The task force will study two distinct major topics. First, the task force will evaluate the advisability, feasibility and impact of changing the upper age of juvenile court jurisdiction to defendants younger than 21 years of age. Second, the treatment of 18- to 24-year-olds in the current correctional system will be examined. The task force will make recommendations for the establishment and implementation of targeted age-appropriate programming and the establishment of young adult correctional units, and specialized training of some corrections officers on the needs of emerging adults.
The government is currently using facial recognition technology without legislative approval, or judicial oversight. Without regulations, this technology poses a risk to the privacy of all Massachusetts citizens. For this reason, I filed S.1385 to place a moratorium on the government’s use of facial recognition technology. This bill will require the government to stop using facial recognition technology, until reasonable regulations are developed to protect the privacy of Massachusetts’ citizens.
We need to ‘press pause’ on the government’s use of facial recognition technology, in order to protect civil rights and civil liberties in Massachusetts.
Gun reform has been one of my top priorities. The increase in mass shootings throughout the nation is an alarming trend and we need to do more to address gun safety. I was the lead Senate advocate on legislation to ban bump stocks and to establish extreme risk protective orders (ERPOs), which will allow for the removal of firearms from potentially dangerous individuals.
This past election demonstrated how voting by mail, early in-person voting and expanded registration all increase participation, while maintaining an efficient and secure election process and we need to make these options available for voters in all state elections going forward.