Bill to add due-process rules for no-trespass orders draws wide committee scrutiny

Representative Juliet Harvey Bouley opened testimony on House Bill 143 by describing cases where parents and members of the public received indefinite no-trespass orders on public property and later raised constitutional challenges. "This bill addresses how municipalities and towns address no trespass orders on public property, not private property," Bouley said, adding that the measure seeks to establish an appeal process and more specific limits on duration and scope.

Bouley cited a 2014 case involving a man outside a Nashua library, saying the court found his 14th Amendment rights were violated because there had been no opportunity to contest a verbal order and no end date was given. The bill would require a governing body to vote — in the language presented, unanimously — before an order takes effect and would guarantee the subject a hearing…