scarlet letter
The Massachusetts General Court [the state legislature] Joint Committee on the Judiciary recommended Monday that two bills aimed at doubling the signature requirements for ballot initiatives ought not to pass. H 1830, sponsored by Rep. Denise Provost, was heard by the committee on March 13; and S 13, sponsored by Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, was heard April 14.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel, The Scarlet Letter, a young woman is forced to wear a scarlet-red letter ‘A’ on her shirt as punishment for adultery. His novel is set in Puritan Boston in the 1600’s.