Massachusetts Right-to-Repair Bill Passed in 2020 Has Yet to be Implemented
Though Massachusetts voters approved an automotive right-to-repair law back in 2020, its implementation has been delayed for years now, reports the Boston Globe.
After the law was initially passed, a lawsuit was filed by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation in an attempt to stop it. The case went to Douglas Woodlock, a senior judge in the US District Court in Boston, who has since made no decisions about what to do with the case.
Though a trial was held on the case in June 2021, nothing has come of it since. Though Woodlock is known for taking an untypically long amount of time to get through cases, having 42 motions pending for six months or longer as of last year, there are other factors that have prolonged the case.
Following the lawsuit going to trial in 2021, the state’s attorney general submitted documents to the court, claiming automakers could comply with the law by disabling wireless data systems in their vehicles. Some automakers countered that it would still leave them in violation of the law, leading to Woodlock needing more time to look over the case.
Other obstacles have included Woodlock needing time to work on other pending cases of his, needing more time to consider the case after a US Supreme Court ruling that limited the EPA’s authority, and the NHTSA expressing doubt over the law.
Not much can be done to expedite the process. Daniel Medwed, a professor at Northeastern University Law School, said that it’s possible to petition for the case to be handed over to another judge through a writ of mandamus, but it’s unlikely to succeed.
Even in the event of the case being resolved, right-to-repair advocates foresee more challenges ahead, such as the case being appealed, that will take an additional months or years of waiting.
“We know one way or another this isn’t the end of this,” said Tommy Hickey, director of the Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition. “And we still haven’t gotten a decision from this judge.”
