Mass. lawmakers lauded for making key advance against distracted driving
By Faye Duxovni, Somerville / Boston Globe Letter to the Editor / November 25, 2019
It’s common to express frustration with the slow pace of lawmaking, but it’s important to acknowledge the difficult work that goes into drafting and negotiating over legislation that affects everyone in our state. To this end, I want to applaud my state senator, Joseph A. Boncore, of Winthrop, for his work on the distracted-driving bill and in particular on the racial profiling sections. After years of delays, the Legislature has finally reached a breakthrough, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Boncore and others in the Senate.
I supported civil rights groups’ efforts to include in the bill language on racial profiling, and I wrote to Senator Boncore to express my views. Thankfully, he heard my concerns.
We can’t let law enforcement continue to target people of color disproportionately for traffic stops and citations. They say politics is the art of compromise, so to our lawmakers on Beacon Hill, I say bravo.