Copyright 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc. and New England Newspaper Group Inc.
By REBECCA DEUSSER
The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts)
BOSTON — The death of a young cheerleader in a Tewksbury gym could prompt the next in a chain of bills named after a tragic victim.
The mother of the cheerleader is pushing for legislation, which may be filed as “Ashley’s Law” after 14-year-old Ashley Burns, requiring protective equipment and on-duty EMTs at cheerleading gyms.
The bill, which has not yet been filed, could be the fourth namesake law taken up on Beacon Hill in the past year, following the McNamara Law for call and volunteer firefighter death benefits, Melanie’s Law to crack down on drunken drivers, and Nicole’s Law to require carbon monoxide detectors in certain homes.
Burns, who was a member of the Medford High School cheerleading squad, died last Aug. 9 after landing on her stomach while attempting an aerial stunt during practice. An autopsy revealed a lacerated spleen due to blunt abdominal trauma.
Putting a face on a bill can be effective, but some lawmakers are losing their taste for debates that are made personal.
“Sometimes emotions overcome reality or being practical to cover all the bases,” said state Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox.
“Melanie’s [Law] is a recent example. I have no sympathy for drunk drivers, but to put a girl’s face [on the bill], it pulls at the heart strings and helps people understand the problem better.” Pignatelli said he is “torn” over the idea of naming bills.
“Sometimes historically, the Legislature has rushed into bills based on an emotional trauma,” he said. “Sometimes it’s not as good of a bill as if we took our time and paid it our due diligence.”
Pignatelli added that he thought named bills he has voted for so far are “good bills.”
Naming bills can be effective, said veteran political reporter John Henning.
“It puts a face on the story and humanizes it,” Henning said. “It draws more attention than a bill number or a title.”
Henning is a senior adviser on public policy issues for Denterlein Worldwide, a Boston-based public affairs firm.
But Henning also said it’s become “over done.”
“There are so many laws named after people now, I think it’s confusing,” Henning said. “In the passage [of a bill] it’s fine, but it would probably be better if they referred to a law by what it does, even though families want to memorialize their lost loved one by naming a law after them.”
Henning noted that issues attached to a tragic incident, not necessarily a named bill, can force emotions to run high during a big vote.
Buzz over the murder of 10-year-old Jeffrey Curley in 1997, for example, nearly pushed a bill to legalize the death penalty through the House.
The issue of naming bills came up during the House’s debate on Melanie’s Law last fall.
“In that instance, I had no problem with it. What the governor did to put his package through was he tried to get a prime example of the law gone awry,” said state Rep. Jim Miceli, D-Wilmington. “But some people feel strongly that it’s a bit disingenuous.”
Still, Miceli said he had “mixed emotions” on the issue.
“People here are starting to feel it’s overused,” Miceli said. “That hasn’t been in the papers, but it’s been discussed in the Legislature.”
State Rep. Denis Guyer, D-Dalton, called named bills “a double-edged sword.”
“If a legislator is naming a bill after a person due to a tragedy, as long as the bill stays true to the legislator’s intention, then it can be great,” Guyer said. “But if amendments come out and it’s not looking like the original bill, well that’s what happened with Melanie’s Law.”
Guyer agreed personalizing an issue makes it “pop out to legislators,” but he votes on bills based on their merits.
State Rep. Tom Golden, D-Lowell, who worked closely on Nicole’s Law, said it is also a misconception that lawmakers name laws.
“Most of time, they are not named after people in a technical sense,” he said. “You can name a bill, but it isn’t usually done.”
Ironically, neither the names Melanie nor Nicole appear in the actual text of their respective laws.
The name McNamara appears in the firefighter benefits bill, but only in reference to the family of Martin H. McNamara V — a Lancaster firefighter who died in the line of duty in 2003 — that received a one-time annuity from the state.