Lawmakers try again on suicide coercion
‘Conrad’s Law’ bill refiled on Beacon Hill
Conrad Roy III’s mother, Lynn Roy, called her late son “an old soul,” who would have been more comfortable living in the 1800s than the 2010s, without smartphones and other trappings of modern life.
That cell phone was used by Michelle Carter, a 17-year-old at the time, to coerce the suicidal Roy into ending his life in July 2014 at the age of 18. Now, almost seven years after his death, legislators have refiled legislation to prosecute coerced suicide in Massachusetts, bringing the state in line with almost all the others in the U.S.
“The fact that 42 other states have something like this on the books and we’re only one of eight states that (doesn’t) speaks volumes about why we do need something like this,” said state Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover, who filed the legislation with state Rep. Natalie Higgins, D-Leominster. The pair, along with Lynn Roy, testified on “Conrad’s Law” Tuesday in front of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
Conrad’s Law narrowly defines coerced suicide. By specifying that the perpetrator must have knowledge of the other person’s “suicidal ideation,” the bill skirts free speech and cyberbullying issues. It also carves out medically assisted suicide from its scope.
Although Carter manipulated Roy primarily through text messages and other digital communication, Northeastern University Law Professor Daniel Medwed, who helped draft the bill, didn’t see the need to specify the digital component. In reference to instructions she texted him on how to end his life, “isn’t that just the 21st-century equivalent of an instruction manual or handing someone the gun?” Medwed said.
For Higgins, a former teen counselor, and Finegold, the father of teen girls, this issue is personal, having seen how connected they are to friends at all times through their phones. “(This bill) sends a very strong message of what is acceptable behavior and what is unacceptable behavior,” he said.
Lynn Roy’s husband, Roland St. Denis, never met Conrad Roy, but said he feels a strong connection to him, having struggled with mental illness himself. He has worked with Medwed, Higgins and Finegold to shape this bill and shepherd it through the legislative process.
The lack of a coercion bill made Carter’s court case drag out longer than necessary, and “put an enormous amount of strain on Lynn, her daughters, (and) her son’s father’s family,” he said. Carter was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and was released from prison last year.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the bill lost steam, and was never passed last session. This year, with an increased focus on mental health spurred by the pandemic, the group is hopeful it will succeed.
“We’re gonna get this thing passed,” St. Denis said. “It’s just going to be a matter of when.”