reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 83 - Interrupting Examination of Witnesses

Section 83. During the trial of a case in which an official stenographer takes stenographic notes of the evidence, no other person shall interrupt the examination of witnesses for the purpose of taking notes of their testimony.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 84a - Consolidation of Actions Involving Same Subject Matter

Section 84A. If two or more actions to recover damages or indebtedness arising out of the same accident, event or transaction are pending in the superior court, whether in the same or in different counties, the court or any justice thereof may order that some or all of them be tried together in such county as he may designate. This section shall not limit existing powers of the courts or justices thereof relative to the consolidation or joint trial of causes.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85 - Comparative Negligence; Limited Effect of Contributory Negligence as Defense

Section 85. Contributory negligence shall not bar recovery in any action by any person or legal representative to recover damages for negligence resulting in death or in injury to person or property, if such negligence was not greater than the total amount of negligence attributable to the person or persons against whom recovery is sought, but any damages allowed shall be diminished in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to the person for whose injury, damage or death recovery is made. In determining by what amount the plaintiff's damages shall be diminished in such a case, the negligence of each plaintiff shall be compared to the total negligence of all persons against whom recovery is sought. The combined total of the plaintiff's negligence taken together with all of the negligence of all defendants shall equal one hundred per cent.
The violation of a criminal statute, ordinance or regulation by a plaintiff which contributed to said injury, death or damage, shall be considered as evidence of negligence of that plaintiff, but the violation of said statute, ordinance or regulation shall not as a matter of law and for that reason alone, serve to bar a plaintiff from recovery.
The defense of assumption of risk is hereby abolished in all actions hereunder.
The burden of alleging and proving negligence which serves to diminish a plaintiff's damages or bar recovery under this section shall be upon the person who seeks to establish such negligence, and the plaintiff shall be presumed to have been in the exercise of due care.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85a - Prima Facie Evidence of Owner's Responsibility for Operation of Motor Vehicle

Section 85A. In all actions to recover damages for injuries to the person or to property or for the death of a person, arising out of an accident or collision in which a motor vehicle was involved, evidence that at the time of such accident or collision it was registered in the name of the defendant as owner shall be prima facie evidence that it was then being operated by and under the control of a person for whose conduct the defendant was legally responsible, and absence of such responsibility shall be an affirmative defence to be set up in the answer and proved by the defendant.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85aa - Liability of Registered Rescue Volunteers

Section 85AA. No person duly registered by the department of state police as a search and rescue volunteer who renders assistance in a search and rescue operation under the direct control and instruction of the department and no other person who volunteers in a search and rescue operation and renders assistance, supervised by and under the direct control and instruction of the department shall be liable in any suit for damages as a result of any acts or omissions committed by such person in the course of a search for a missing person, if such person acts in compliance with the Massachusetts state police search and rescue plan, unless such acts or omissions constitute willful, wanton or reckless conduct.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85b - Action for Consequential Damages; Presumption of Automobile Owner's Responsibility

Section 85B. In any action to recover the consequential damages specified in section thirty-four A of chapter ninety, arising out of an accident or collision in which a motor vehicle, as defined in sections one and thirty-four A of chapter ninety, was involved, such motor vehicle if registered in the name of the defendant as owner at the time of such accident or collision shall be presumed to have been then operated, maintained, controlled or used by and under the control of a person for whose conduct the defendant was legally responsible, and absence of such responsibility shall be an affirmative defence to be set up in the answer and proved by the defendant.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85bb - False Claim of Hours Worked Knowingly Submitted by Law Enforcement Officer

Section 85BB. (a) A law enforcement officer, as defined in section 1 of chapter 6E, who knowingly submits to a state agency, state authority, city, town or agency, as defined in said section 1 of said chapter 6E, a false or fraudulent claim of hours worked for payment and receives payment therefor or knowingly makes, uses or causes to be made or used a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim of hours worked for payment that results in a law enforcement officer receiving payment therefor or any person who conspires to commit a violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of 3 times the amount of the fraudulent wages paid or by imprisonment for not more than 2 years.
[There is no subsection (b).]
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85c - Action to Enforce Liability Policy or Bond; Presumption of Insured's Consent to Operation of Vehicle

Section 85C. In any civil action, under section one hundred and thirteen of chapter one hundred and seventy-five and clause (9) of section three of chapter two hundred and fourteen to reach and apply the proceeds of any motor vehicle liability policy, as defined in section thirty-four A of chapter ninety, by a judgment creditor in any action to recover damages for bodily injuries, including death at any time resulting therefrom, or the consequential damages specified in said section thirty-four A, arising out of an accident or collision in which a motor vehicle, as defined in sections one and thirty-four A of said chapter ninety, was involved, and in any action under section thirty-four G of said chapter ninety on a motor vehicle liability bond, as defined in said section thirty-four A, it shall be presumed that at the time of such accident or collision such vehicle was being operated, maintained, controlled or used with the express or implied consent of the named person insured in such policy or the principal of such bond, and the absence of such consent shall be an affirmative defence to be set up in the answer and proved by the defendant.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85d - Imputing Negligence of Parent or Custodian to Infant

Section 85D. In all actions to recover damages for injury to the person or property of an infant, the negligence of the parent or other custodian of the infant shall not be imputed to the infant from the fact of such parenthood or custodianship.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85e - Motor Vehicles; Defenses in Subrogation Claims

Section 85E. In any action to recover for damage to a motor vehicle brought in the name of a person or persons holding a security interest in said motor vehicle, any defense which would be available as against any registered owner thereof shall be available as against the person or persons holding said security interest.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85f - Imputation of Negligence of Operator of Motor Vehicle to Passenger-Owner

Section 85F. In an action to recover damages for death or for injuries or property damage arising out of an accident or collision in which a motor vehicle was involved while the owner thereof was a passenger therein, the negligence of the operator of such motor vehicle shall not be imputed to the owner for the sole reason that he was a passenger.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85g - Parents' Liability for Willful Acts of Minor Children

Section 85G. Parents of an unemancipated child under the age of eighteen and over the age of seven years shall be liable in a civil action for any willful act committed by said child which results in injury or death to another person or damage to the property of another, which shall include any damages resulting from a larceny or attempted larceny of property as set forth in section thirty A of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, damage to cemetery property or damage to any state, county or municipal property or damage as set forth in sections one hundred and twenty-six A and one hundred and twenty-six B of chapter two hundred and sixty-six. This section shall not apply to a parent who, as a result of a decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, does not have custody of such child at the time of the commission of the tort. Recovery under this section shall be limited to the amount of proved loss or damage but in no event shall it exceed five thousand dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85h - Leased Property; Failure to Return; Conversion; Presumption

Section 85H. In any civil action for damages, failure to return any personal property acquired by a person under a lease or contract of hire or rental, other than a hired horse, carriage or other vehicle to which the provisions of section sixty-four of chapter two hundred and sixty-six apply, within thirty days after notice in writing of the termination of such lease or contract shall create a presumption that said person converted such property to his own use. Said notice of termination shall be delivered in hand by a sheriff or constable to the person who hired or rented such personal property as shown in the lease or contract of hire or rental, or shall be sent to him by registered mail, return receipt requested, with delivery restricted to the addressee only.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85i - Emergency Care, Etc. of Injured Persons by Members of Ski Patrols; Exemption From Civil Liability

Section 85I. No member of a ski patrol duly registered in the National Ski Patrol system, who, in good faith, renders emergency care or treatment to a person who has become injured or incapacitated at a place or in an area where an emergency rescue can be best accomplished by the members of such a ski patrol together with their special equipment, shall be liable in a suit for damages as a result of his acts or omissions, either for such care or treatment or as a result of providing emergency transportation to a place of safety, nor shall he be liable to a hospital for its expenses if, under such emergency conditions, he causes the admission of such injured or incapacitated person.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85j - Fraud or Deceit in Sale of Personal Property; Treble Damages

Section 85J. Whoever, by deceit or fraud, sells personal property shall be liable in tort to a purchaser in treble the amount of damages sustained by him.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85k - Limitation of Tort Liability of Certain Charitable Organizations; Liability of Directors, Officers or Trustees of Educational Institutions

Section 85K. It shall not constitute a defense to any cause of action based on tort brought against a corporation, trustees of a trust, or members of an association that said corporation, trust, or association is or at the time the cause of action arose was a charity; provided, that if the tort was committed in the course of any activity carried on to accomplish directly the charitable purposes of such corporation, trust, or association, liability in any such cause of action shall not exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars exclusive of interest and costs; and provided further, that in the context of medical malpractice claims against a nonprofit organization providing health care, such cause of action shall not exceed the sum of $100,000, exclusive of interest and costs. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the liability of charitable corporations, the trustees of charitable trusts, and the members of charitable associations shall not be subject to the limitations set forth in this section if the tort was committed in the course of activities primarily commercial in character even though carried on to obtain revenue to be used for charitable purposes.
No person who serves as a director, officer or trustee of an educational institution which is, or at the time the cause of action arose was, a charitable organization, qualified as a tax-exempt organization under 26 USC 501(c)(3) and who is not compensated for such services, except for reimbursement of out of pocket expenses, shall be liable solely by reason of such services as a director, officer or trustee for any act or omission resulting in damage or injury to another, if such person was acting in good faith and within the scope of his official functions and duties, unless such damage or injury was caused by willful or wanton misconduct. The limitations on liability provided by this section shall not apply to any cause or action arising out of said person's operation of a motor vehicle.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85l - Recovery of Damages Against Operator of Motor Vehicle by Guest; Ordinary Negligence

Section 85L. In an action of tort for personal injuries, property damage or consequential damages caused by or arising from the operation of a motor vehicle in which the plaintiff was a passenger in the exercise of due care, the plaintiff may recover in an action against the operator upon proof that said operator was guilty of ordinary negligence resulting in said injuries or damages.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85m - Disclaimers of Liability by Parking Facilities Not a Defense and Void

Section 85M. In any action of contract or tort in which the defendant is the owner or operator of a privately or publicly owned or operated garage, lot, or other facility used for the parking or storage of motor vehicles for a fee, it shall not constitute a defense that said owner or operator, by means of language appearing on any sign, ticket, or receipt, sought to disclaim, limit or exclude his legal liability. Any such disclaimer, limitation or exclusion of liability shall be void as against public policy.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85n - Liability of Licensed Members of Certain Professional Societies and Committees for Damages Resulting From Official Acts

Section 85N. No member of a professional society or of a duly appointed committee thereof, or a duly appointed member of a committee of a medical staff of a licensed hospital or a health maintenance organization licensed under the provisions of chapter one hundred and seventy-six G shall be liable in a suit for damages as a result of his acts, omissions or proceedings undertaken or performed within the scope of his duties as such committee member, provided that he acts in good faith and in the reasonable belief that based on all of the facts the action or inaction on his part was warranted; nor shall an individual be liable in a suit for damages as a result of acts, omissions or proceedings undertaken or performed within the scope of his duties to a nonprofit corporation, the sole voting member of which is a professional society having as members persons who are licensed to practice medicine; provided, however, that such individual acts in good faith and in the reasonable belief that based on all of the facts the action or inaction on his part was warranted.
For the purposes of this section ''professional society'' shall mean a society having as members persons who are licensed or admitted to practice in the field of law, medicine, chiropractic, optometry, psychiatry or psychology, dentistry, accounting, engineering, land surveyor, as set forth in section eighty-one D of chapter one hundred and twelve, architecture or social work.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85o - Contracts; Age of Legal Capacity and Liability in Civil Actions

Section 85O. Any person who has attained the age of eighteen shall have full legal capacity to act in his own behalf in the matter of contracts and shall be liable in any civil action for breach thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85p - Age of Majority; Legal Capacity

Section 85P. Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, any person domiciled in the commonwealth who has reached the age of eighteen shall for all purposes, and any other person who has reached the age of eighteen shall with respect to any transaction governed by the law of the commonwealth, be deemed of full legal capacity unless legally incapacitated for some reason other than insufficient age.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85q - Standard of Care Owed Children; Maintenance of Artificial Condition Upon Land

Section 85Q. Any person who maintains an artificial condition upon his own land shall be liable for physical harm to children trespassing thereon if (
a
) the place where the condition exists is one upon which the land owner knows or has reason to know that children are likely to trespass, (
b
) the condition is one of which the land owner knows or has reason to know and which he realizes or should realize will involve an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm to such children, (
c
) the children because of their youth do not discover the condition or realize the risk involved in intermeddling with it or in coming within the area made dangerous by it, (
d
) the utility to the land owner of maintaining the condition and the burden of eliminating the danger are slight as compared with the risk to children involved, and (
e
) the land owner fails to exercise reasonable care to eliminate the danger or otherwise to protect the children.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85r - Boat Races or Regattas; Liability for Injuries

Section 85R. No member of a sailboat racing committee, club or association or of a yacht club association which conducts a race or regatta shall be liable for injuries to persons or property arising out of the conduct of such race or regatta in the absence of wilful, wanton or reckless conduct.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85r1/2 - Liability for Damage to Property as a Result of Shoplifting or Attempted Larceny; Recovery

Section 85R1/2. Whoever: causes damage to the property of a person as a result of a larceny or attempted larceny of said property as set forth in section 30A of chapter 266; commits or attempts to commit a larceny of goods for sale on the premises of a merchant; or commits or attempts to commit a larceny of the personal property of employees or customers or others present on such premises shall be liable in tort to the merchant for damages. The damages shall be: not more than $50 in addition to any actual damages incurred if the value of the property is less than $50; not more than $250 in addition to any actual damage incurred if the value of the property is more than $50 but less than $250; and not more than $500 in addition to any actual damages incurred if the value of the property is more than $250. An action for recovery may be commenced under sections 21 to 25, inclusive, of chapter 218.
Any correspondence by a merchant, its agents or attorneys that asserts a claim against an individual arising under this section shall identify in detail all of the pertinent information on which the merchant bases its claim. Any person who solicits payment that exceeds the limitations provided by this section shall be subject to a fine of not more than $500.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85t - Negligence Action for Serving Alcohol to Intoxicated Person Prohibited; Exceptions

Section 85T. In any action for personal injuries, property damage or consequential damages caused by or arising out of the negligent serving of alcohol to an intoxicated person by a licensee properly licensed under chapter one hundred and thirty-eight or by a person or entity serving alcohol as an incident of its business but for which no license is required, no such intoxicated person who causes injuries to himself, may maintain an action against the said licensee or person or entity in the absence of wilful, wanton, or reckless conduct on the part of the licensee or such person or entity.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85u - Death or Injury to Unlawful Dwelling Occupants; Liability of Lawful Occupants

Section 85U. No person who is a lawful occupant of a dwelling shall be liable in an action for damages for death or injuries to an unlawful occupant of said dwelling resulting from the acts of said lawful occupant; provided, however, that said lawful occupant was in the dwelling at the time of the occurrence and that he acted in the reasonable belief that the person unlawfully in said lawful dwelling was about to inflict great bodily injury or death upon said occupant or upon another person lawfully in said dwelling, and that said lawful occupant used reasonable means to defend himself or such other person lawfully in said dwelling. There shall not be a duty on said occupant to retreat from such person unlawfully in said dwelling.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85w - Officers and Directors of Charitable Corporations; Tort Liability

Section 85W. Except as provided otherwise in this section and in section eighty-five V, no person who serves without compensation, other than reimbursement for actual expenses, as an officer, director or trustee of any nonprofit charitable organization including those corporations qualified under 26 USC section 501(c)(3) shall be liable for any civil damages as a result of any acts or omissions relating solely to the performance of his duties as an officer, director or trustee; provided, however, that the immunity conferred by this section shall not apply to any acts or omissions intentionally designed to harm or to any grossly negligent acts or omissions which result in harm to the person. Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting or modifying any existing legal basis for determining the liability, or any defense thereto, of any person not covered by the immunity conferred by this section.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting or modifying the liability of any person subject to this section for acts or omissions which are committed in the course of activities primarily commercial in nature even though carried on to obtain revenue to be used for charitable purposes, nor for any cause of action arising out of such person's operation of an automobile.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85x - Loss of Consortium of a Dependent Child; Cause of Action

Section 85X. The parents of a minor child or an adult child who is dependent on his parents for support shall have a cause of action for loss of consortium of the child who has been seriously injured against any person who is legally responsible for causing such injury.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85y - Child Care Facilities; Liability of Owner of Property for Injury or Damage on Premises

Section 85Y. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the owner of any property containing premises operated by a person other than such owner as a child care facility shall not be subject to any claim, liability or penalty arising from or based upon any injury to person or loss or damage to property sustained or occurring on or about such premises unless such injury, loss or damage is proximately caused by the negligence or misconduct of such owner or its agents, contractors or employees. This section shall not be deemed to limit or otherwise modify the provisions of any lease or other contract between such owner and the operator of such child care facility. As used in this section, the term ''child care facility'' shall mean a child care center or a school-aged child care program, as defined in section 1A of chapter 15D.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 85z - Conveyances Without Fair Consideration by Persons in Contempt of an Order or Judgment for Child Support; Civil Action

Section 85Z. A person who has been adjudged to be in contempt of an order or judgment for child support entered pursuant to chapter 119, 207, 208, 209, 209A, 209C, 209D or 273 who knowingly makes a conveyance without fair consideration to an individual shall be liable in a civil action to the obligee under said order or judgment in an amount equal to the value of the conveyance made.
A person shall not be liable hereunder if the conveyance made does not exceed $100 in value in any calendar year.
For the purpose of this section, conveyance shall mean any payment of money, gift, assignment, transfer or lease of tangible or intangible property.
A conveyance shall be deemed to be made without fair consideration unless the conveyance was made in exchange for property or goods of equal value or to satisfy an existing debt created in good faith.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 88 - Effect of Unaccepted Offer of Judgment

Section 88. An offer of judgment made under the provisions of the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure or the District-Municipal Courts Rules of Civil Procedure which is not accepted shall not be evidence against the party making it, either in a subsequent proceeding in the action in which it is made or in another action or suit.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 89 - Use at Trial of Answers to Interrogatories

Section 89. The answers of a party to interrogatories filed may be read by the other party as evidence at the trial. The party interrogated may require the whole of the answers upon any one subject matter inquired of to be read, if a part of them is read; but if no part is read, the party interrogated shall in no way avail himself of his examination or of the fact that he has been examined.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 91 - Effect of Unproved Defense of Truth in Action of Slander or Libel; Proof of Statements Not Contained in Pleadings

Section 91. In an action of slander or libel, if the defendant alleges that the words spoken or published were true, such allegation, although not supported by the evidence, shall not of itself be proof of the malice alleged in the complaint, nor shall statements of the defendant differing in import from those alleged be admissible to establish his malice unless such statements were published in pursuance of a general scheme to defame or otherwise injure the plaintiff. If the plaintiff proposes to introduce evidence of statements of the defendant other than those contained in his pleadings, he shall give the defendant written notice of such intention, specifying the date and content of each such statement, at least fourteen days before trial begins, or earlier if the court so orders; and, if any such statement is introduced in evidence, the defendant shall be permitted to prove that it was true, or was privileged, or any other facts relating thereto which tend to negative malice.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 91a - Radio or Television Broadcast; Liability of Owner of Station, Etc.

Section 91A. The owner, operator or licensee of a radio or television station or network of such stations or the agent or servant of any such person shall not, in an action for slander or for publishing a libel, be held liable in damages for or on account of any defamatory matter uttered, broadcast, telecast or published over the radio or television facilities of any such station or network by any person whose utterance, broadcast, telecast or publication is not, under the provisions of any law of the United States or any regulation, ruling or order of the Federal Communications Commission, subject to censorship or control by such station or network.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 91b - Statement Relating to Bank Loan for Purchase of Goods or Services as Defense to Claim for Libel

Section 91B. It shall be a defense to any claim for libel or slander brought by a vendor against a purchaser of goods or services that the statement on which the claim is based relates to a loan from a bank used to purchase such goods or services and was made by the purchaser in good faith to an agent or employee of such bank.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 92 - Truth as Justification for Libel

Section 92. The defendant in an action for writing or for publishing a libel may introduce in evidence the truth of the matter contained in the publication charged as libellous; and the truth shall be a justification unless actual malice is proved.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 93 - Retraction of Libel; Mitigation of Damages; Punitive Damages

Section 93. Where the defendant in an action for libel, at any time after the publication of the libel hereinafter referred to, either before or after such action is brought, but before the answer is required to be filed therein, gives written notice to the plaintiff or to his attorney of his intention to publish a retraction of the libel, accompanied by a copy of the retraction which he intends to publish, and the retraction is published, he may prove such publication, and, if the plaintiff does not accept the offer of retraction, the defendant may prove such nonacceptance in mitigation of damages. If within a reasonable time after receiving notice in writing from the plaintiff that he claims to be libelled the defendant makes such offer and publishes a reasonable retraction, and such offer is not accepted, he may prove that the alleged libel was published in good faith and without actual malice, and, unless the proof is successfully rebutted, the plaintiff shall recover only for any actual damage sustained. In no action of slander or libel shall exemplary or punitive damages be allowed, whether because of actual malice or want of good faith or for any other reason. Proof of actual malice shall not enhance the damages recoverable for injury to the plaintiff's reputation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 94 - Evidence in Mitigation of Damages

Section 94. In an action for libel, the defendant may allege and prove in mitigation of damages that the plaintiff already has brought action for or recovered damages for, or has received or has agreed to receive compensation in respect of, substantially the same libel as that for which such action was brought. In an action for libel or slander, he may introduce in evidence, in mitigation of damages and in rebuttal of evidence of actual malice, acts of the plaintiff which create a reasonable suspicion that the matters charged against him by the defendant are true.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 94a - Probable Cause as Defence in Action for False Arrest

Section 94A. If a person authorized to make an arrest shall have probable cause to believe that a misdemeanor for which he may make an arrest is being committed in his presence, such probable cause shall be a defence in an action brought against him for false arrest or imprisonment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 94b - False Arrest; Shoplifting; Defrauding Innkeepers; Defenses

Section 94B. In an action for false arrest or false imprisonment brought by any person by reason of having been detained for questioning on or in the immediate vicinity of the premises of a merchant or an innkeeper, if such person was detained in a reasonable manner and for not more than a reasonable length of time by a person authorized to make arrests or by the merchant or innkeeper or his agent or servant authorized for such purpose and if there were reasonable grounds to believe that the person so detained was committing or attempting to commit a violation of section thirty A of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, or section twelve of chapter one hundred and forty, or was committing or attempting to commit larceny of goods for sale on such premises or larceny of the personal property of employees or customers or others present on such premises, it shall be a defense to such action.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 94c - False Arrest; Theft of Public Records; Defenses

Section 94C. In an action for false arrest or false imprisonment brought by any person by reason of having been detained for questioning on or in the immediate vicinity of the custodian of the record, it shall be a defense to such action if such person was detained in a reasonable manner and for not more than a reasonable length of time by a person authorized to make arrests or by the custodian or his agent authorized for such purpose and if reasonable grounds existed at the time of such detention to believe that such person so detained was committing or attempting to commit a violation of section one hundred and forty-five of chapter two hundred and sixty-six.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 95 - Defense to Action on Default Judgment

Section 95. In an action upon a judgment obtained by default and without the knowledge of the defendant, brought within six years after the rendition thereof, the court may, in its discretion and upon terms, allow the defendant to show in defense any payment, satisfaction or extinguishment of the claim, prior to the obtaining of such judgment, or any matter of fraud, which in either case he might have shown in the original suit upon a motion for relief from judgment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 96 - Relief From Final Judgment; Vacation; Effect of Attachment

Section 96. On motion made pursuant to the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure or the District-Municipal Courts Rules of Civil Procedure, and upon such terms as are just, a court may relieve a party or his legal representative from a final judgment. If no attachment was made in the action, such relief may be granted and execution stayed without security; but if there was such attachment, the amount of the bond shall be fixed at the actual value of the property attached, as agreed by the parties or determined by the court. Liability upon an attachment made or bond given in the original action shall not continue after the judgment has been vacated, except that if the prevailing party has been relieved from judgment under this section within thirty days of the entry thereof, such liability shall, if a subsequent judgment is rendered, continue during such time thereafter as it would have continued upon the original judgment had it not been vacated.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 97 - Appeal to Superior Court

Section 97. Unless a written waiver of the right of appeal has been filed by all the parties, a party aggrieved by the judgment of a district court in a civil action may appeal therefrom to the superior court within 6 days after the entry thereof. In that case no execution shall be issued on the judgment appealed from. The case shall be entered in the superior court pursuant to section 101 and shall there be tried and determined as if originally entered therein. This section shall not apply to civil actions for money damages and to summary process actions brought in the district court and Boston municipal court departments pursuant to section 19 of chapter 218 and chapter 239.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 98 - Appeal Bond

Section 98. No appeal, other than an appeal by a county, city, town or other municipal corporation, from a judgment of a district court in any civil action or proceeding, except an action of summary process under chapter two hundred and thirty-nine, or a civil action for money damages in the district court and Boston municipal court departments pursuant to section 19 of chapter 218, shall be allowed, except as provided in section ninety-nine, unless the appellant, within six days after the entry of judgment, or within such further time as the justice or clerk for cause shown allows, files a bond executed by him or by his attorney of record on his behalf, payable to the appellee in such reasonable sum and with such surety or sureties as may be approved by the appellee or by the justice or clerk, conditioned to enter and prosecute his appeal with effect, and to satisfy any judgment for costs which may be entered against him in the superior court upon said appeal within thirty days after the entry thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 99 - Deposit in Lieu of Appeal Bond

Section 99. The appellant or any person in his behalf, instead of filing a bond as provided in the preceding section, may deposit with the clerk, within the time required for filing a bond, a reasonable amount, to be fixed by the clerk or justice, as security for the prosecution of the appeal and the payment of costs. A certificate of such deposit shall be issued to the depositor by the clerk or justice, and the deposit shall be transmitted by him with the papers to the clerk of the superior court, who shall thereupon deliver a receipt therefor to such clerk or justice and shall hold such deposit until the final disposition of the case, when he shall pay it, or any part thereof, to the appellee for his costs, or to the depositor thereof, as the court may order. The superior court may give directions as to the manner of keeping such deposit.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 101 - Record on Appeal to Superior Court; Transmission

Section 101. When an appeal is taken from a judgment of a district court, the clerk shall transmit to the clerk of the superior court the complaint, all papers filed in the case, all bonds, and a brief certificate of the proceedings, which shall be there entered by the appellant.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 102 - Docket Entries on Taking Appeal

Section 102. When such appeal is taken, the names of all the parties thereto, the nature of the action or proceeding, the doings of the court thereon, the final disposition thereof and the amount of costs taxed shall be entered on the docket; and no other record thereof shall be required.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 103 - Waiver of Jury Trial and Right of Appeal in Cases Brought in District Court

Section 103. If a party elects to bring in any district court any action or other civil proceeding which he might have begun in the superior court, he shall be deemed to have waived a trial by jury and his right of appeal to the superior court, unless within thirty days of commencement of the action or service of a responsive pleading, or within such further time as the court may allow, a plaintiff files a claim to a jury trial in the superior court with the district court and within thirty days after notice of the decision or finding files an entry fee of fifty dollars and bond in accordance with the second paragraph of section one hundred and four; provided, however, that if any claim, counterclaim or cross-claim is asserted against a plaintiff who has elected to bring such action or other civil proceeding in any district court, said plaintiff may of right remove said action or proceeding and claim a jury trial in the same manner and upon the same terms as set forth in said section one hundred and four; and, provided further, that if any compulsory counterclaim is asserted by a defendant, said defendant may of right remove the action and claim a jury trial in the same manner and upon the same terms as are set forth in said section one hundred and four. This section and sections one hundred and four to one hundred and ten, inclusive, shall not apply to actions or counterclaims under the provisions of chapter two hundred and thirty-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title II - Actions and Proceedings Therein › Chapter 231 - Pleading and Practice › Section 104a - Multiple Judgments Specification for Removal to Superior Court

Section 104A. In any action brought by or against two or more persons in which separate judgments are authorized by the District-Municipal Courts Rules of Civil Procedure, the party seeking removal may specify in his claim of trial by the superior court the parties as to whom such trial is claimed, in which case the cause shall be removed as to such parties only as are specified in such claim, and said district court shall retain jurisdiction as to the remainder. In such case the clerk shall transmit attested copies of the papers in the cause to the clerk of the superior court, in lieu of the originals.