SJC rules against a proposed technology law ballot initiative trial
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The Supreme Judicial Court will not overrule Attorney General Maura Healey's decision not to certify a proposed technology law ballot question.
A high court judge declined to send a proposed technology law ballot initiative to trial after petitioners failed to gather enough signatures, guaranteeing the question will not go before voters in 2020.
Supreme Judicial Court Justice Frank Gaziano on Tuesday denied a pro se motion from Kirsten Beatty, the ballot initiative's lead sponsor, seeking a trial to overrule Attorney General Maura Healey's September decision not to certify the question as legally viable for the 2020 ballot.
The question would have created a commission to craft legislation in response to risks technological developments pose to "environmental health, liberty, free speech, democracy, security, and common good." Healey ruled in September that it was unfit for the ballot because it did not cover a "unified" topic.
Beatty challenged Healey's decision and Gaziano issued a preliminary injunction — which did not indicate a position on whether the underlying suit was valid — on Sept. 17 allowing petitioners to collect the 80,239 signatures required, but Beatty's group was unable to do so.
In an email to the News Service, Beatty said she had lost volunteers and support after Healey declined to certify the initial proposal.
Secretary of State William Galvin previously said he was watching the case as a potential precedent for a separate uncertified ballot initiative he supports that would overhaul the state's primary election system.
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