Okay folks, I stayed up late last night poking around on the web, made one call this a.m. to the office of the sponsor of the bill in the statehouse, and have ended up finding the answer to my own question about what the status is for Ann Pudeator, Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott and Wilmot Reed. Here goes: On 01/06/99, House No. 678, sponsored by State Representative J. Michael Ruane, of Salem, was refered to the committee on the Judiciary, and a public hearing was held 05/25/99. (Note: this does not appear to be the first time Representative Ruane has brought this up: I found a reference to a similar petition and "House No. 5836" on 10/13/98, the previous legislative session.) On 06/24/99, House No. 4457 (formerly No. 678), also sponsored by Represenative Ruane, was reported "favorably" by the committee on the Judiciary, and referred on to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling so that a vote can be taken on the House floor. When? Good question, since this legislative session runs through November 2000, and the budget is really the priority this summer. I found a reference to House No. 4457 listed under the calendar for July 30, so it possible (although highly unlikely) that a vote could occur then. Of course, THEN the bill will have to go through the Massachusetts Senate and go through the process again. I do not know who the sponsor there would be. History of the bill in this session of the state legislature: http://www.state.ma.us/legis/history/h00678.htm http://www.state.ma.us/legis/history/h04457.htm State Representative J. Michael Ruane: http://www.state.ma.us/legis/member/jmr1.htm Two articles in the Eagle-Tribune: Witches' justice 307 years too late (01/26/99) A lawmaker from the "Witch City" has filed a bill that will clear the names of five women executed for witchcraft in 1692, one of them from Amesbury. http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/19990126/FP_002.htm Witch's kin fight to clear family name (05/26/99) Three centuries later, descendants of an executed witch are using the Internet to clear her name http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/19990526/FP_004.htm Cheers, Margo Margo Burns [email protected] http://www.ogram.org