Bill > H1927

This bill seeks to further amend a 1957 resolve that deals with exonerating individuals accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts by adding several new names to the list of exonerated persons. Specifically, the bill adds names like Margaret Jones, Alice Lake, Elizabeth Kendall, Anne Hibbens, and Goody Glover to the existing resolution, and also includes Hugh Parsons, Eunice Cole, and Elizabeth Morse, who were previously indicted and tried for witchcraft. The bill acknowledges that numerous individuals were accused, arrested, questioned, imprisoned, arraigned, or tried for witchcraft during the colonial period, even if they were not ultimately found guilty. By making these amendments, the bill aims to provide a more comprehensive recognition of those who were wrongfully accused and persecuted during the witch trials, which were a dark period in Massachusetts' colonial history. The changes remove a specific reference to the year 1692 (the year of the most famous Salem witch trials) and broaden the language to recognize a wider range of victims of witchcraft accusations.

Justice

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H1927