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Massachusetts House passes domestic abuse bill

An overhaul of the state’s domestic violence laws, including new bail guidelines and tougher penalties for abusers, unanimously cleared the Massachusetts House Tuesday amid concerns from defense attorneys that the bill was hastily drafted and overly broad. The measure, called the most comprehensive domestic violence legislation in a generation by House Speaker Robert DeLeo, was approved 142 to 0 and now goes to the state Senate. DeLeo said in introducing the bill with Attorney General Martha Coakley last week that it was spurred by the brutal stabbing death in Waltham of Jennifer Martel, allegedly at the hands of Jared Remy, the son of popular Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy.