Elissa Flynn-Poppey and Edmund Daley discussed with Law.com the legal strategy behind their successful challenge to a proposed Massachusetts rent control ballot initiative. Their argument that the measure's religious exemption violated Article 48 of the Massachusetts Constitution ultimately led to the initiative's removal from the November 2026 ballot.

Reflecting on a key aspect of the case, Elissa said, “There's not a lot of case law on that exemption, so that's actually one thing that makes this case even more unique.” She added, “By the petitioners adding that exemption, the initiative petition really got it into the purview of Article 48.

Discussing the firm's broader approach to ballot initiative challenges, Ed said, “It's a ton of fun when these cases come in and it's something brand new, a petition you've never seen before. Then we have to go back through our checklist of where are the excluded matters, where are they hiding in this petition, and decide how to address them.”

Source

Law.com