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Earlier today, in the case of Doyle v. Secretary of the Commonwealth, the SJC determined that while the legislature had a duty to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment, the court lacked the authority to compel them to do so. The opinion said, in part: …Continue Reading SJC Same-Sex Marriage Decision: Cannot Compel Legislature to Vote
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled earlier this month in A.H. v. M.P. that a woman who never adopted the child of her same-sex partner, “although she was well aware of the importance of doing so,” and was not the primary caretaker for the child, did …Continue Reading Same-Sex Partner Denied De Facto Parent Status
In Roberts v. Legendary Marine Sales, the SJC ruled earlier this month that general advertising on the web, not aimed specifically at Massachusetts residents, does not, by itself, confer personal jurisdiction over the advertiser. The court ruled that a Florida boat dealer who advertised a …Continue Reading Web Ads Alone Don’t Confer Jurisdiction
The Massachusetts legislature is set to convene a constitutional convention tomorrow to take up the issue of a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage. If 25% of legislators approve the amendment in two consecutive constitutional conventions, it will be put to the voters in 2008. The …Continue Reading Same-Sex Marriage Amendment
The legislature overrode the Governor’s veto last month and passed a new law (St.2006, c.172) allowing the sale of hypodermic needles without a prescription beginning September 18. According to the New Bedford Standard-Times, “Massachusetts becomes the 48th state in the nation to decriminalize the possession …Continue Reading Needle Sales
There are several laws in Massachusetts insulating those rendering aid from liability, but no law requiring a bystander to provide assistance. Separate statutes free EMS personnel, physicians and nurses, and the general public trained in CPR from personal liability. Many sources suggest that Massachusetts has …Continue Reading Good Samaritan Laws
Cingular has reached a compromise with employees who were angered that management had taken away their seats in stores and was requiring them to stand. An obscure Massachusetts law, MGL c.149, s.103, may have saved their chairs. Originally written to protect “women or children” in …Continue Reading You have the right to remain seated…
The Department of Fire Services reminds us once again that all fireworks are illegal in Massachusetts without a license. Their brochure, Be Smart: Leave Fireworks to the Professionals, contains frightening statistics about the number of burn injuries caused by fireworks, as well as the reminder …Continue Reading Massachusetts Tough on Fireworks
We are often asked to produce the law or ordinance which prohibits more than a certain number of unrelated females from living together, as such an arrangement would be considered a brothel. As far as we can determine, no such law exists, but apparently the …Continue Reading The Brothel Myth
An article in Sunday’s Boston Herald, Exclusive bru$h with the law: New library closed to the public, questions the money spent on the Social Law Library, a private law library located within the new John Adams Courthouse. “The Social Law Library, which occupies 82,000 square …Continue Reading Suffolk County Law Library Access Questioned
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