Case law

Attorney General v. Collector of Lynn

377 Mass. 151 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Jan 26, 1979

They assert that, if the Legislature intended to alter the Hardman holding or the meaning of § 8, it would have amended or repealed G.L.c. 60, § 102, which establishes penalties for any collector who does not comply with … Assessors of Woburn, 375 Mass. 430, 433 (1978). [4] Federal law exempts from disclosure records which would constitute a "clearly unwarranted" invasion of personal privacy. 5 U.S.C. § 552 (b)(6) (1976).

Watson v. Baker

444 Mass. 487 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Jun 20, 2005

The will established two trusts. The terms of the trusts provide that the income from the trusts was to be paid in equal shares to Williams’s two granddaughters, Frances T. … We doubt, however, that a class whose membership is defined by law can be expanded by the addition of a qualifier, particularly the adjective “lawful.”

Boston Waterfront Development Corp. v. Commonwealth

378 Mass. 629 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Aug 3, 1979

Roxbury, supra, note at 503, 515. 3 Nineteenth Century opinions of the Supreme Judicial Court construed this colonial ordinance as granting “only a qualified property” in the flats to the upland owner, qualified by the public … In the present state of this case we do not reach BWDC’s contention that § 31A so clearly forecloses the Commonwealth from pursuing a right of action against it for an alleged breach of the condition that the issue is moot

Commissioners of the Bristol County Mosquito Control District v. State Reclamation & Mosquito Control Board

466 Mass. 523 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Oct 30, 2013

The board is established by G. … The 2013 amendment came after all the events at issue in this case had occurred, and clearly was not before the Superior Court judge who decided the cross-motions for summary judgment.

Commonwealth v. Adams

389 Mass. 265 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · May 18, 1983

We noted that the defendant’s conduct of exposing himself in a public place “would have [clearly] warranted a verdict of guilty of the statutory offence of ‘open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior,’ G. L. (Ter. … L. c. 272, § 16, explained that the “word ‘lewdness’ at common law mean[t] open and public indecency; but as used and qualified in the statute it has a broader sense ....

Opinion of the Justices to the Senate & the House of Representatives

309 Mass. 571 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Jul 1, 1941

a public corporation in the sense that it is established as an instrumentality of government.” … Clearly it cannot raise by taxation the money called for by the proposed measure for the payment of compensation benefits. How can it “raise” that money “otherwise?”

Commonwealth v. Aves

35 Mass. 193 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Aug 27, 1836

The same doctrine is clearly stated in the full and able opinion of Marshall C. J., in the case of the Antelope, 10 Wheat. 120 . … But it clearly admits, that it may exist by force of positive law.

Massachusetts General Hospital v. Inhabitants of Belmont

233 Mass. 190 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Jun 19, 1919

This statute does not establish a clearly hostile discrimination against a particular corporation or person or class outside the limits of general usage, but on the contrary is within a custom respecting classification touching … The standard established by the law is fair cash value, having reference to any and all uses to which the property is reasonably adapted.” In Lodge v.

Commonwealth v. Cameron

385 Mass. 660 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Mar 29, 1982

The defendant also argues, for the first time on appeal, that the court-appointed psychiatrist was not qualified, on the basis of one interview with the defendant, to give his opinion on the defendant’s ability to waive his … The record clearly indicates that defense counsel wanted this witness to testify on the defendant’s capacity to waive his rights.

Commonwealth v. Stuckich

450 Mass. 449 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Jan 16, 2008

We have concluded that there was no evidence that qualified as consciousness of guilt evidence. … Its contents suggested clearly that he could not have unsupervised contact with his daughter because he had sexually abused her.

Commonwealth v. Watson

455 Mass. 246 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Oct 29, 2009

Accordingly, counsel decided not to petition the court for funds to retain an expert witness, as he continued to believe that the defendant would not qualify as indigent. … We conclude that the judge’s *260 instructions clearly apprised the jury of the identification issue. See id.; Commonwealth v. Conceicao, supra at 265-266 ; Commonwealth v. DeJesus, 71 Mass. App. Ct. 799, 808 (2008).

Berry v. Commonwealth

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Mar 12, 2026

Ostrander, 441 Mass. 344, 354, cert. denied, 543 U.S. 867 (2004) (cross-examination of defendant's expert on voluntariness of confession "is an inadequate substitute for actual testimony from another qualified expert who … Nor has he included the record materials necessary to assess whether the motion judge's implicit finding on that point was clearly erroneous. See Sabree v.

Commonwealth v. Feliz

481 Mass. 689 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Mar 26, 2019

We "accept subsidiary findings based partly or wholly on oral testimony, unless clearly erroneous." Commonwealth v. Tremblay, 480 Mass. 645, 646 (2018). … See Cory, 454 Mass. at 560 (retroactive application of GPS monitoring to individuals placed on probation for qualifying sex offenses before G.

Kozdras v. Land/Vest Properties, Inc.

382 Mass. 34 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Dec 3, 1980

In the absence of proof of intentional wrongdoing, however, I believe that the Legislature intended that a decree of registra *56 tion, once final, be immune to collateral attack. 2 I am not unsympathetic to the Kozdrases … L. c. 185, § 101, did not escape the Legislature’s attention; the Assurance Fund established by G.

Ross v. Ross

129 Mass. 243 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Sep 28, 1880

It is a general principle, that the status or condition of a person, the relation in which he stands to another person, and by which he is qualified or made capable to take certain rights in that other’s property, is fixed … The ratio decidendi is most clearly brought out by Mr. Justice Littledale and by Chief Justice Tindal. Mr.

Keller v. O'Brien

420 Mass. 820 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Jul 24, 1995

In contrast, the defendant, who had com *822 pleted only two years of college prior to the marriage, had limited employability and was qualified for only unskilled, entry level positions at minimum wage. … Robbins, 343 Mass. 247, 252 (1961) (payor spouse did not establish that recipient spouse’s annulled remarriage resulted in change of circumstances that would justify modification of alimony obligation).

Crown Communities, LLC v. Austin

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Jun 5, 2026

Fleet Nat'l Bank, 453 Mass. 366, 368 n.9 (2009) ("When a trial judge does not make a specific finding, an appellate court may consider stipulated facts, documentary facts, and facts that are not contested and clearly established … "[F]raudulent misrepresentation is sufficient to establish deception under G. L. c. 93A, § 11." H1 Lincoln, Inc. v. South Wash. St., LLC, 489 Mass. 1, 18 (2022).

Commonwealth v. Ellis

475 Mass. 459 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Sep 9, 2016

First, the Commonwealth contends that the judge was clearly erroneous in finding that the Foley allegation and the hotline tips were newly discovered. … We conclude that the judge's finding that the Foley allegation and the hotline tips were newly discovered was not clearly erroneous.

Maguire v. Tax Commissioner

230 Mass. 503 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Jun 25, 1918

It is clearly implied by what was said by Mr. Justice Gray in Dallinger v. Rapello or Rapallo, 14 Fed. Rep. 32; S. C. 15 Fed. … It establishes a basis of taxation directly proportioned to ability to bear the burden.

Carney v. Attorney General

451 Mass. 803 · Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Jul 15, 2008

In August, 2007, at least ten qualified voters filed the petition at issue here with the Attorney General. See art. 48, The Initiative, Part II, § 3. … Although the plaintiffs claim that banning dog racing would render their property valueless, that contention is clearly inaccurate.