Link to the pdf of the full brief
April 17, 2026
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT
NO. SJC-13893
____________________________________________
ARCANGELO CELLA, TERESA DEL SIGNORE, KATHERINE HOREY, AND SUSAN M. RENFREW,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
ANDREA J. CAMPBELL, in her official capacity as the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and WILLAM F. GALVIN, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Defendants-Appellees.
____________________________________________
ON RESERVATION AND REPORT FROM THE
SUPREME JUDICAL COURT FOR SUFFOLK COUNTY
____________________________________________
BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE
POVERTY & RACE RESEARCH ACTION COUNCIL (PRRAC)
SUPPORTING DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES
____________________________________________
Respectfully submitted,
Jane Edmonstone
BBO # 671113
Alycia M. Kennedy
BBO # 688801
Community Legal Aid, Inc.
370 Main Street,
Suite 300
Worcester, MA 01608
(508) 425-2885
jedmonstone@cla-ma.org
akennedy@cla-ma.org
Thomas Silverstein Audrey Lynn Martin
Poverty & Race Research Action Council
740 15th Street, NW Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20005
202-866-0703
270-635-0249
tsilverstein@prrac.org
Amartin@prrac.org
CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT Pursuant to Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1: 21, Amicus Curiae Poverty & Race Research Action Council make the following disclosures: It is a nonprofit corporation with no parent corporations, with no stock, and therefore no publicly held company owning more than 10 percent of its stock.
DECLARATION OF AMICUS INDEPENDENCE Amicus is independent from the parties, have no economic interest in the outcome of this case, and declare that none of the conduct described in Appellate Rule 17 has occurred. Specifically:
1. No party or party’s counsel authored this brief in whole or in part;
2. No party or party’s counsel contributed money that was intended to fund preparing or submitting this brief;
3. No person or entity—other than the amicus curiae or their counsel— contributed money that was intended to fund preparing or submitting this brief; and
4. None of the amici or their counsel represents or has represented one of the parties to the present appeal in another proceeding involving similar issues, or was a party or represented a party in a proceeding or legal transaction that is at issue in the present appeal.
Table of Contents
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
IDENTITY AND INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE
This brief is submitted by the Poverty & Race Research Action Council (the “Amicus” or “PRRAC”) as amicus curiae urging this Court to reject Plaintiffs-Appellants’ challenge to the certification of Initiative Petition 25-21, affirm the Attorney General’s certification of the Petition. Amicus is a national civil rights law and policy organization that organization based in Washington, D.C. PRRAC’s mission is to promote research-based advocacy strategies to address structural inequality and change the systems that disadvantage low-income people of color. PRRAC has worked extensively to ensure that state and municipalities take proactive steps to further fair housing and address racial inequality, including through the adoption of tenant protections like rent control and prohibitions on discrimination against families that use Housing Choice Vouchers.
INTRODUCTION
Rent control policies, like that which Initiative Petition 25-21 (the “Petition”) would implement in Massachusetts is approved by the voters, are an effective, tested means of preventing worsening housing insecurity among tenants while still respecting the rights of property owners and enabling them to receive the revenue necessary to meet their operating expenses. Overlaid on a housing system in which Black and Latine households in Massachusetts are disproportionately likely to rent their homes, to experience cost burden, to be evicted, and to become homeless, rent control is a racial justice measure, the adoption of which would aid in the Commonwealth’s efforts to comply with its duty to affirmatively further fair housing. Despite the protestations of Plaintiffs-Appellants, well-designed rent control policies like that included in the Petition will not cause the sky to fall, housing production to plummet, or multifamily mortgage lenders to question the value of their security interests. Amicus writes to provide helpful information to the Court with respect to these points and urges the Court to affirm the Attorney General’s certification of the Petition.
