Bill > H1600

This bill creates a new criminal offense specifically targeting harassment of sports officials during sporting events. The law defines criminal harassment against a sports official as willfully and maliciously threatening serious bodily injury to a sports official acting in their official capacity in a way that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their personal safety. The penalties for this offense include up to 2.5 years in a house of correction, a fine of up to $1,000, or both for a first offense. For a second or subsequent offense, the penalty increases to 5-10 years in state prison. The bill provides specific definitions for key terms: a "sports official" is defined as any person serving in an officiating role (such as referee, umpire, line judge, etc.) who is registered with or a member of an official sports organization, whether paid or volunteer. A "sporting event" is broadly defined to include interscholastic, intramural, community, business, nonprofit, and semiprofessional athletic activities, covering a wide range of sporting contexts from school sports to community leagues.

Justice

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H1600