BOSTON – Thursday, July 21, 2022 – The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a judiciary IT bond bill by a vote of 146-7. Representative Orlando Ramos filed an amendment to that judiciary IT bond bill codifying the recommendations of the Facial Recognition Commission which was created in the 2020 policing reform law and tasked with investigating and making recommendations governing usage of facial recognition by state government. That amendment was adopted by a 149-4 vote.
Rep. Ramos was also the author of an ordinance banning the use of Facial Surveillance Technology which was passed by the Springfield City Council in February of 2020.
“When I first introduced the Ordinance in 2020, we were able to reach a compromise with the mayor and police commissioner and passed the Ordinance by a vote of 11-2”, said Representative Ramos. “I made this issue one of my top priorities when I was elected as State Representative. Thanks to the tireless work of the members of the Facial Recognition Commission, we were able to come to a compromise on common sense regulations.
“I’m proud to have helped make this happen both at the local level and state level… to protect our community from unnecessary government surveillance and protect communities of color from technology that has been proven to be racially biased.”
