Statement on H.1641 – An Act Relative to Civil Rights
Mar 9, 2026
The New England Police Benevolent Association (NEPBA) strongly opposes H.1641, An Act Relative to Civil Rights, and urges lawmakers to give the bill an unfavorable report.
NEPBA supports meaningful accountability, transparency, and the protection of civil rights. Our members take those responsibilities seriously and serve their communities every day under already robust oversight. Massachusetts is not lacking civil-rights remedies or police accountability. The Commonwealth has one of the broadest civil-rights statutes in the nation and, in recent years, enacted sweeping police reform measures, including the creation of the POST Commission, mandatory certification, enhanced training standards, and statewide oversight.
H.1641 does not fill a gap in the law. Instead, it removes a long-standing legal safeguard by eliminating the requirement that civil-rights claims against law enforcement involve threats, intimidation, or coercion, while leaving that standard in place for every other public employee and private individual. This would single out police officers for uniquely expansive liability and fundamentally upend settled civil-rights law in Massachusetts.
The predictable consequences of this proposal are deeply concerning. H.1641 would encourage an increase in litigation, shift civil-rights cases into already strained state courts, drive up defense and settlement costs, and place significant financial pressure on municipalities and taxpayers. Experience in other states that expanded civil-rights liability shows sharp increases in insurance premiums, multi-million-dollar settlements, and serious disruptions to municipal budgets, with no clear evidence of improved public safety outcomes.
Equally troubling is the impact this bill would have on police recruitment and retention at a time when departments across Massachusetts are already facing a documented staffing crisis. New research shows that removing lawsuit protections disproportionately discourages the very candidates the Commonwealth should want to attract: college-educated, high-performing, and ethically driven individuals. H.1641 sends a clear message to prospective officers that Massachusetts intends to make them uniquely vulnerable to civil-rights lawsuits simply for doing their jobs in good faith.
Accountability and public safety are not competing values. NEPBA believes they are best advanced through strong training, professional standards, effective supervision, and fair, balanced laws that apply equally across professions. H.1641 moves the Commonwealth in the opposite direction by targeting one group of public servants for disfavored treatment, increasing costs for communities, and making it harder to recruit and retain qualified officers.
NEPBA remains committed to working collaboratively with legislators, community leaders, and civil-rights advocates on reforms that strengthen trust, protect civil rights, and ensure that Massachusetts can continue to staff its police and correctional departments with the high-caliber professionals our residents deserve.
