Massachusetts Law Updates

Portraits in Massachusetts Law is a regular feature of Massachusetts Law Updates. These pages provide links to biographical information abut people who have been particularly important in legal history in Massachusetts, as our government took shape in the cauldron of the American Revolution and grew and changed throughout   …Continue Reading Portraits in Massachusetts Law: Lucy Stone

Words of law is a regular feature of Massachusetts Law Updates, highlighting a particular word or phrase and its meaning in law. Today’s word is suffrage. suffrage (sәf-rji). (14c) 1. the right or privilege of casting a vote at a public election. – Also termed right to vote.   …Continue Reading Word(s) of the month – suffrage

In order to help navigating in and around our series about standing that was posted during the last two weeks, the following index may help: Words(s) of the month – standing posted October 16, 2019, from Black’s Law Dictionary, 11th ed., Bryan A. Garner, Editor   …Continue Reading Index to blog post series about standing

  Ecosystems, such as lakes, valleys, and forests, are treated by the courts, for the most part, in the same way that animals or species are, when it comes to legal standing to sue. (See our recent posts: Do Animals Have Standing? parts 1 & 2)    …Continue Reading Do Ecosystems Have Standing? 

  A dolphin walked up to the bar in Massachusetts, but was told it had no standing. Well, at least legally. A male dolphin named Kama was named as a plaintiff in a case in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts   …Continue Reading Do Animals Have Standing to Sue? Part 2: Animals filing as individuals

    “[The Palila] wings its way into the federal court as a plaintiff in its own right.”   With these words in 1988, the U.S. Court of Appeals of the 9th Circuit gave hope to animal rights supporters  everywhere that animals could finally sue   …Continue Reading Do Animals Have Standing to Sue? Part 1: Animals filing as species.

In order to help navigating in and around our series about codification that was posted during the last two weeks, the following index may help: Word(s) of the month – codification, posted September 16, 2019, from Black’s Law Dictionary, 10th ed., Bryan A. Garner, Editor in Chief,   …Continue Reading Index to blog post series about codification

“The United States Code is prepared and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (“OLRC”) of the U.S. House of Representatives pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 285b. The Code contains the general and permanent laws of the United States, organized into titles based on subject matter.   …Continue Reading Codification of Federal Law Today

“One of the most serious problems with the trend toward exclusively researching legal material online – and in making certain legal resources available only electronically – is that in most states, there is no system or set of standards for how legal information should be   …Continue Reading Access to Justice: Authentication as a Social Justice Issue