MA S1126

Grants the Division of Civil Rights and Liberties authority to issue civil investigative demands requiring document production, written interrogatories, and oral testimony before filing lawsuits in hate-related investigations

Allows victims of bias-motivated civil rights violations to recover up to $5,000 in statutory damages per violation plus punitive damages, with protected categories including race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, immigration status, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability

Requires all police departments and law enforcement agencies to submit hate crime reports quarterly to a centralized crime reporting unit, which must also collect voluntary reports from community groups, advocacy organizations, and civil rights agencies

Mandates establishment of a central repository for hate crime data collection and analysis, with standardized reporting procedures including offender demographics and victim protected characteristics

Expands the criminal hate crime statute to add ethnicity, immigration status, gender, gender expression, and gender identity as protected categories, with penalties of up to $5,000 fine and/or 2.5 years imprisonment