reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 12 - False Lottery Tickets; Creation, Sale, or Possession

Section 12. Whoever makes or sells, or has in his possession with intent to sell, exchange or negotiate, or by printing, writing or otherwise assists in making or selling, or in attempting to sell, exchange or negotiate, a false or fictitious lottery ticket, or any share thereof, or any writing, certificate, bill, token or other device before mentioned, or any ticket or share thereof in a fictitious or pretended lottery, knowing the same to be false or fictitious, or receives any money or other thing of value for such ticket or share of a ticket, writing, certificate, bill, token or other device purporting that the owner, bearer or holder thereof shall be entitled to receive any prize, or share of a prize, or other thing of value, that may be drawn in a lottery, knowing the same to be false or fictitious, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 13 - Lottery Tickets, Tokens or Shares Deemed False

Section 13. Upon the trial of a person charged with any of the crimes mentioned in the preceding section, a ticket or share of a ticket, or other writing or thing before mentioned, which the defendant has sold or offered for sale, or for which he has received a valuable consideration, shall be deemed false, spurious or fictitious, unless the defendant proves that the same was true and genuine, duly issued by the authority of some legislature within the United States, that such lottery was existing and undrawn and that such ticket or share thereof, or other writing or thing before mentioned, was issued by lawful authority and is binding upon the person who issued the same.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 14 - Forfeiture of Money, Prizes, or Other Property Disposed of by Chance; Recovery

Section 14. Money or other thing of value drawn as a prize or share thereof in a lottery, and all property disposed of or offered to be disposed of by illegal gaming, including games of chance or device under the pretext mentioned in section seven, by an inhabitant of or a resident within the commonwealth, and all money or other thing of value received by such person by reason of his being the owner or holder of a ticket or share of a ticket in a lottery or pretended lottery, or of a share or right in any such scheme of chance or such device, contrary to this chapter, shall be forfeited, and may be recovered by an information filed or by an action for money had and received brought by the attorney general or a district attorney in the name and on behalf of the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 15 - Lottery for Money Drawn Out of Commonwealth; Aiding or Promoting

Section 15. Whoever, except as provided in section five of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A, aids, either by printing or writing, or is in any way concerned in setting up, promoting, managing or drawing a lottery for money, set up, promoted, managed, or drawn out of the commonwealth, shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 16 - Tickets of Lottery Described in Sec. 15; Sale or Possession

Section 16. Whoever sells, for himself or another, or offers for sale or has in his possession with intent so to do or to exchange or negotiate, or aids or assists in selling, negotiating, exchanging or disposing of a ticket, or a share of a ticket, in a lottery described in the preceding section, shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 16a - Organizing or Promoting Gambling Facilities or Services

Section 16A. Whoever knowingly organizes, supervises, manages or finances at least four persons so that such persons may provide facilities or services or assist in the provision of facilities or services for the conduct of illegal lotteries, or for the illegal registration of bets or the illegal buying or selling of pools upon the result of a trial or contest of skill, speed or endurance of man, beast, bird or machine, or upon the happening of any event, or upon the result of a game, competition, political nomination, appointment or election, or whoever knowingly receives from at least four such persons compensation or payment in any form as a return from such lotteries, such registration or such buying or selling shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than fifteen years or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment. As used in this section the word ''persons'' shall not include bettors or wagerers or persons who organize, supervise, manage or finance persons for the purpose of gaming conducted under chapter 23K who merely avail themselves of such facilities or services for the purpose of making a bet or wager and do not otherwise provide or assist in the provision of such facilities or services. This section shall not apply to such bettors or wagerers.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 17 - Place for Registering Bets or Dealing in Pools; Owner or Occupant; Custodian or Depository

Section 17. Whoever keeps a building or room, or any part thereof, or occupies, or is found in, any place, way, public or private, park or parkway, or any open space, public or private, or any portion thereof, with apparatus, books or any device, for registering bets, or buying or selling pools, upon the result of a trial or contest of skill, speed or endurance of man, beast, bird or machine, or upon the result of a game, competition, political nomination, appointment or election, or whoever is present in such place, way, park or parkway, or any such open space, or any portion thereof, engaged in such business or employment; or, being such keeper, occupant, person found or person present, as aforesaid, registers such bets, or buys or sells such pools, or is concerned in buying or selling the same; or, being the owner, lessee or occupant of a building or room, or part thereof, or private grounds, knowingly permits the same to be used or occupied for any such purpose, or therein keeps, exhibits, uses or employs, or knowingly permits to be therein kept, exhibited, used or employed, any device or apparatus for registering such bets, or for buying or selling such pools, or whoever becomes the custodian or depository for hire, reward, commission or compensation in any manner, of any pools, money, property or thing of value, in any manner staked or bet upon such result, shall be punished by a fine of not more than three thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years, or in jail or the house of correction for not more than two and one half years. This section shall not apply to a person who organizes, supervises, manages or finances another person for the purpose of gaming conducted in accordance with chapter 23K or for the purpose of sports wagering conducted in accordance with chapter 23N.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 17a - Telephones, Internet or Other Communications Technology; Use for Gaming

Section 17A. Except as permitted under chapter 23N, whoever uses a telephone, internet or other communications technology or, being the occupant in control of premises where a telephone, internet or other communications technology is located or a subscriber for such communications technology, knowingly permits another to use a telephone, internet or other communications technology so located or for which such person subscribes, as the case may be, for the purpose of accepting wagers or bets, or buying or selling of pools, or for placing all or any portion of a wager with another, upon the result of a trial or contest of skill, speed or endurance of man, beast, bird or machine, or upon the result of an athletic game or contest, or upon the lottery called the numbers game, or for the purpose of reporting the same to a headquarters or booking office, or who under another name or otherwise falsely or fictitiously procures telephone, internet or other communications technology service for oneself or another for such purposes, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $2,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 1 year; provided, however, that this section shall not apply to use of telephones or other devices or means to place wagers authorized pursuant to the provisions of section 5C of chapter 128A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 17b - Use of Electronic Communications Records in Ongoing Criminal Investigations; Subpoena of Records

Section 17B. Except as otherwise prohibited under section 2703 of Title 18 of the United States Code, whenever the attorney general or a district attorney has reasonable grounds to believe that records in the possession of: (i) a common carrier subject to the jurisdiction of the department of telecommunications and cable, as provided in paragraph (d) of section 12 of chapter 159; or (ii) a provider of electronic communication service as defined in subparagraph (15) of section 2510 of Title 18 of the United States Code; or (iii) a provider of remote computing service as defined in section 2711 of Title 18 of the United States Code, are relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation, the attorney general or district attorney may issue an administrative subpoena demanding all such records in the possession of such common carrier or service, and such records shall be delivered to the attorney general or district attorney within 14 days of receipt of the subpoena. No such common carrier or service, or employee thereof, shall be civilly or criminally responsible for furnishing any records or information in compliance with such demand. Nothing in this section shall limit the right of the attorney general or a district attorney to otherwise obtain records from such a common carrier or service pursuant to a search warrant, a court order or a grand jury or trial subpoena.
No subpoena issued pursuant to this section shall demand records that disclose the content of electronic communications or subscriber account records disclosing internet locations which have been accessed including, but not limited to, websites, chat channels and newsgroups, but excluding servers used to initially access the internet. No recipient of a subpoena issued pursuant to this section shall provide any such content or records accessed, in response to such subpoena.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 18 - Policy Lotteries or Shops; Production, Sale or Possession of Lottery Tickets or Tokens

Section 18. Whoever keeps, sets up, promotes or is concerned as owner, agent, clerk or in any other manner, in managing a policy lottery or policy shop, or writes, prints, sells, transfers or delivers a ticket, certificate, slip, bill, token or other device, purporting or designed to guarantee or assure to a person, or to entitle him to a chance of drawing or obtaining a prize or thing of value in a lottery or in the game or device commonly known as policy lottery or policy, whether drawn or determined, or remaining to be drawn or determined, or who receives from a person any money or other thing of value for such article or chance; or for himself or another writes, prints, sells, transfers or delivers or has in his possession for the purpose of sale, transfer or delivery, or in any way aids in selling, exchanging, negotiating, transferring or delivering a chance or ticket in a lottery, or in the game or device commonly known as policy lottery or policy, whether drawn or to be drawn, or any such bill, slip, certificate, token or other device, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 19 - Production, Advertisement or Delivery of Tickets; Receipt of Money; Prima Facie Evidence

Section 19. The printing, writing, advertising, issuing or delivery of any ticket, paper, document or other article or material representing or purporting to represent the existence of or any chance or interest in any lottery, policy lottery or policy game, pool or pools, registered or other bet or other game or hazard, whether drawn or determined, or remaining to be drawn or determined, or the receiving of money or other thing of value for such article or chance, shall be prima facie evidence of the existence, location and drawing of such lottery, policy lottery or policy game, and of the act or event upon which such pool or pools, bet, game or hazard depends or may depend, and of the unlawful character of such lottery, policy lottery, pool, bet, game or hazard, and the issuing or delivery of such ticket, paper, document or other article or material shall be prima facie evidence of value received therefor by the person, company or corporation issuing or delivering the same, or aiding or abetting therein, and that such person, company or corporation is concerned in keeping, managing or promoting such lottery, pool, bet, game or hazard. This section shall not apply to advertising of gaming conducted pursuant to chapter 23K and shall not apply to advertising of sports wagering conducted pursuant to chapter 23N.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 20 - Tickets, Memoranda, Books and Sheets; Nuisance; Possession; Concealment

Section 20. All lottery, policy or pool tickets, slips or checks, memoranda of any combination or other bet, manifold or other policy or pool books or sheets, are hereby declared a common nuisance and the possession thereof unlawful; and the possession of any such article, or of any other implements, apparatus or materials of any other form of gaming, shall be prima facie evidence of their use, by the person having them in possession, in the form of gaming in which like articles are commonly used. Any such article found upon the person of one lawfully arrested for violation of any law relative to lotteries, policy lotteries or policy, the buying or selling of pools or registering of bets or other form of gaming shall be competent evidence upon the trial of a complaint or indictment to which it may be relevant. If a person so arrested in a building or structure or part thereof conceals or attempts to conceal such articles upon his person or elsewhere, the possession and concealment or attempt at concealment thereof shall be prima facie evidence that the place in which the same occurs is kept, maintained, used or occupied for the form of gaming in which like articles are commonly used. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a gaming establishment licensed under chapter 23K from posting, advertising or displaying materials relevant to its gaming operations. Nothing in this section shall prohibit an operator licensed under chapter 23N from posting, advertising or displaying materials relevant to its sports wagering operations.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 21 - Words, Figures or Characters Referring to Game or Contest; Prima Facie Evidence; Proof

Section 21. In a prosecution or proceeding relative to lotteries, policy lotteries or policy, buying and selling pools or registered bets, any words, figures or characters, written, printed or exposed upon a blackboard, placard or otherwise, in a place alleged to be used or occupied for such business, purporting or appearing to be a name of a horse or jockey, or a description of or reference to a trial or contest of skill, speed or endurance of man, beast, bird or machine, or game, competition, political nomination, appointment or election, or other act or event, or any odds, bet, combination bet or other stake or wager, or any code, cipher or substitute therefor, shall be prima facie evidence of the existence of the race, game, contest or other act or event so purporting or appearing to be referred to, and that such place is kept or occupied for gaming; and in all cases the same may be proved by a copy or by oral description thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 22 - Delivery to or From a Person Engaged in a Lottery or Other Illegal Gaming

Section 22. Whoever receives a letter, package or parcel for delivery to or transportation from a person, or delivers or transports the same to or from a person, having reasonable cause to believe that such person is engaged or in any way concerned in the management or promotion of or agency for a lottery, or the game known as policy lottery or policy, or the buying or selling of pools or registering of bets, or other form of illegal gaming, and that such letter, package or parcel has relation to such business, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars; but this section shall not apply to the receipt, carriage or delivery of United States mail matter by an officer or employee thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 22a - Whist or Bridge for Charitable and Similar Purposes

Section 22A. Nothing in this chapter shall authorize the prosecution, arrest or conviction of any person for conducting or promoting, or for allowing to be conducted or promoted, a game of cards commonly called whist or bridge, in connection with which prizes are offered to be won by chance; provided, that the entire proceeds of the charges for admission to such game are donated solely to charitable, civic, educational, fraternal or religious purposes.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 22b - Beano; Sale of Lottery Tickets

Section 22B. Nothing in this chapter shall authorize the prosecution, arrest or conviction of any person for promoting or playing, or for allowing to be conducted, promoted or played, the game commonly called beano, or substantially the same game under another name in connection with which prizes are offered to be won by chance or for selling lottery tickets or shares; provided, said game or sales are conducted under a license issued by the director of the state lottery, under the provisions of sections thirty-seven or thirty-eight of chapter ten.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 23 - Oath and Warrant to Enter Gaming or Lottery Place, Arrest Persons and Seize Implements and Materials; Disposal of Articles

Section 23. If a person makes oath before a district court or justice of the peace authorized to issue warrants in criminal cases that he suspects or has probable cause to suspect that a house or other building, room or place is used as and for a common gaming house, for gaming for money or other property, or is occupied, used or kept for promoting a lottery, or for the sale of lottery tickets, or for promoting the game known as policy lottery or policy, or for the buying or selling of pools or registering of bets upon any race, game, contest, act or event, and that persons resort thereto for any such purpose, such court or justice, whether the names of the persons last mentioned are known to the complainant or not, shall, if satisfactory evidence is presented, issue a warrant commanding the sheriff or his deputy or any constable or police officer to enter such house, building, room or place, and to arrest the keepers thereof, all persons in any way assisting in keeping the same, whether as janitor, doorkeeper, watchman or otherwise, all persons who are there found participating in any form of gaming and all persons present whether so participating or not, if any lottery, policy or pool tickets, slips, checks, manifold books or sheets, memoranda of any bet, or other implements, apparatus or materials of any form of gaming are found in said place, and to take into their custody all the implements, apparatus or materials of gaming, as aforesaid, and all the personal property, including money, furniture and fixtures there found, and to keep said persons, implements, apparatus or materials, property, including money, furniture and fixtures so that they may be forthcoming before some court or magistrate to be dealt with according to law. The provisions of chapter two hundred and seventy-six relative to disposal of gaming articles seized upon search warrants shall apply to all articles and property seized as herein provided for; provided, however, that such provisions shall not apply to gaming conducted pursuant to chapter 23K and shall not apply to sports wagering conducted pursuant to chapter 23N.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 24 - Race Tracks; Owners, Proprietors Of, or Persons Present

Section 24. This chapter shall not authorize the arrest or conviction of the owner or proprietor of a race track or trotting course for the reason that another person has without his knowledge or consent violated any of its provisions relative to the buying and selling of pools or the registering or making of bets or to any offence mentioned in the preceding section; nor the arrest or conviction of a person for being present on a race track or trotting course where pools are sold or bets registered or made on trials of speed or endurance between horses or other animals; but this exception shall not apply to a person in any way participating or assisting in the buying or selling of pools or registering of bets.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 25 - Obstructions Barring Access to Gaming Places; Removal; Lien of Expenses

Section 25. If a captain of police in Boston or marshal or chief of police in any other city or town in the commonwealth finds that access to any building, apartment or place which he has reasonable cause to believe is resorted to for the purpose of unlawful gaming is barred by any obstruction, such as a door, window, shutter, screen, bar or grating of unusual strength, other than what is usual in ordinary places of business, or any unnecessary number of doors, windows or obstructions, he shall order the same removed by the owner or agent of the building where such obstruction exists, and if any of said officers cannot find either of the persons mentioned, so as to make personal service, said notice shall be posted upon the outside of the apartments and on the outside of said building, and upon the neglect to remove such obstruction for seven days from the date of said order or posting of said notices, any of said officers shall cause such obstruction to be removed from such building, and the expense of such removal shall be a lien on said building and be collected by the officer removing such obstruction, in the manner in which a mechanic's lien is collected.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 26 - Subsequent Obstructions; Removal; Punishment; Lien

Section 26. If, within one year after removal of said obstruction, the premises are again obstructed as above defined, the captain of police or marshal or chief of police shall have the same power of removal as provided in the preceding section, and in addition the owner or agent when such second order of removal is given, either by personal service or by posting on the building, shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred and fifty nor more than five hundred dollars, and the amount of said fine shall be a lien upon said building and be collected in like manner as provided in the preceding section. And for every subsequent obstruction as above defined, at any time within two years of the giving of the second notice, as above provided, said officers shall have the same powers as provided in the preceding section for removing the obstructions, and the owner or agent at the time such third or subsequent order of removal is given, either by personal service or by posting on the building, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars or may be punished by imprisonment for one year, and the amount of said fine shall be a lien upon the said building, and shall be collected in like manner as above provided. Obstructions as above defined, erected more than two years after the giving of the notice of the third offence, shall be construed to be a first offence under this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 27 - Judicial Notice of Methods and Character of Lotteries, Policy Games, Pools and Betting; Prima Facie Evidence

Section 27. Any court or magistrate having criminal jurisdiction may take judicial notice of the general methods and character of lotteries, policy lotteries or the game called policy, pools or combination bets, and the buying and selling of pools and registering of bets. In the trial of a complaint or indictment to which it may be relevant, any lottery, policy or pool ticket, certificate, slip or check, manifold or other policy or pool book or sheet, or memorandum of any pool or sale of pools, or of a bet or odds, or combination bet, or any other implement, apparatus, materials or articles of a character commonly employed in or in connection with lotteries, policy lotteries or policy, the buying or selling of pools or registering of bets, or other form of gaming, shall be prima facie evidence of the existence and unlawful character of a lottery, policy lottery or game, pool or pools, bet, game or hazard, or other form of gaming in which like articles are commonly used, and that such article has relation thereto; provided, however, that such provisions shall not apply to sports wagering conducting pursuant to chapter 23N.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 28 - Lotteries or Illegal Gaming; Complaints and Indictments

Section 28. No plea of misnomer shall be received to a complaint or indictment for violation of any law relative to lotteries, policy lotteries or policy, the selling of pools or registering of bets, or any form of illegal gaming; but the defendant may be arraigned, tried, sentenced and punished under any name by which he is complained of or indicted. No such complaint or indictment shall be abated, quashed or held insufficient by reason of any alleged defect, either of form or substance, if the same is sufficient to enable the defendant to understand the charge and to prepare his defence. No variance between such complaint or indictment and the evidence shall be deemed material, unless in some matter of substance essential to the charge under the rule above prescribed; provided, however, that such provisions shall not apply to sports wagering conducted pursuant to chapter 23N.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 29 - Sale, Exchange or Disposition of Property; Misrepresentation

Section 29. Whoever sells, exchanges or disposes of any property, or offers or attempts so to do, upon a representation, advertisement, notice or inducement that anything other than what is specifically stated to be the subject of the sale or exchange is or is to be delivered or received, or is in any way connected with or is a part of the transaction, or whoever gives a stamp, coupon or other device which entitles a purchaser to demand or receive from a person or company other than the merchant dealing in the goods purchased or the manufacturer thereof, any other property than that actually sold or exchanged, or whoever delivers by any person or company other than the merchant dealing in the goods purchased, or the manufacturer thereof, goods, wares or merchandise upon the presentation of such stamp, coupon or other device, shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor more than five hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 30 - Trading Stamps or Similar Devices; Sale or Delivery

Section 30. Whoever, in connection with the sale of any article or any merchandise whatsoever, sells, gives or delivers any trading stamps, checks, coupons or similar devices to be exchanged for, or to be redeemed by the giving of, any indefinite or undescribed article, the nature and value of which are not stated, or to be exchanged for, or to be redeemed by the giving of, any article not distinctly bargained for at the time when such trading stamps or other devices as aforesaid were sold, given or delivered, shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 31 - Racing Horses for Bets or Stakes

Section 31. Whoever, except in trials of speed of horses for premiums offered by legally constituted agricultural societies, or by corporations authorized thereto by section fourteen of chapter one hundred and eighty, engages in racing, running, trotting or pacing a horse or other animal of the horse kind for a bet, wager of money or other thing of value or a purse or stake made within the commonwealth, or whoever aids or abets therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. This section shall not apply to racing conducted pursuant to chapter 23K.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 31a - Racing Results or Information; Transmission for Unlawful Purposes

Section 31A. Whoever transmits the results of a race, or information as to the progress of a race during the running thereof, in a racing meeting as defined in section one of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A, by any means to another knowing that such results or information is to be used or intended to be used for unlawful purposes or in furtherance of unlawful gambling, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than two and one half years or in the state prison for not more than five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
This section shall not be construed as prohibiting a newspaper from printing such results for publication as news, or a television or radio station from telecasting or broadcasting such results or information as news.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 32 - Horse Racing; Fraud

Section 32. Whoever, for the purpose of competing for a purse or premium offered by an agricultural society, or by a person or association in the commonwealth, knowingly and designedly enters or drives a horse that is painted or disguised, or is a different horse from the one that purports to be entered or driven, or knowingly and designedly, for the purpose of competing for a premium or purse, enters or drives a horse in a class to which it does not belong, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 33 - Race Grounds in Towns

Section 33. No land within a town shall be laid out or used as a race ground or trotting park without the previous consent of and location by the mayor and city council, the town council in a town having a town council or the selectmen in any other town, who may regulate and alter the terms and conditions under which the same shall be laid out, used or continued in use and may discontinue the same when in their judgment the public good so requires; and no land shall be used for any of the purposes declared unlawful in section thirty-one.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 34 - Race Grounds as Nuisance; Abatement

Section 34. Every race ground or trotting park established, laid out, used or continued in use contrary to this chapter is declared a common nuisance and may be abated as such; and all persons owning, keeping, using or permitting to be used such race ground or trotting park, or aiding or abetting therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 35 - Definition of Words and Phrases Used in Secs. 35 to 38

Section 35. The following words and phrases used in this and the three following sections of this chapter shall, unless a different meaning is required by the context, have the following meanings:
''Person'', an individual, partnership, corporation or association, whether acting in his or their own right or as the officer, agent, servant, correspondent or representative of another.
''Contract'', any agreement, trade or transaction.
''Securities'', all evidences of debt or property and options for the purchase and sale thereof, shares in any corporation, joint stock company or association, bonds, coupons, scrip, rights, choses in action and other evidences of debt or property and options for the purchase or sale thereof.
''Commodities'', anything movable that is bought and sold.
''Bucket shop'', any room, office, store, building or other place where any contract prohibited by the following section is made or offered to be made.
''Keeper'', any person owning, keeping, managing, operating or promoting a bucket shop, or assisting to keep, manage, operate or promote a bucket shop.
''Bucketing'' or ''Bucket-shopping'',
(a) The making of, or offering to make, any contract respecting the purchase or sale, either upon credit or upon margin, of any securities or commodities, wherein both parties thereto intend, or such keeper intends, that such contract shall be, or may be, terminated, closed or settled according to, or upon the basis of, the public market quotations of prices made on any board of trade or exchange upon which said securities or commodities are dealt in, and without a bona fide purchase or sale of the same; or
(b) The making of, or offering to make, any contract respecting the purchase or sale, either upon credit or upon margin, of any securities or commodities, wherein both parties intend, or such keeper intends, that such contract shall be, or may be, deemed terminated, closed or settled, when such public market quotations of prices for the securities or commodities named in such contract shall reach a certain figure without a bona fide purchase or sale of the same; or
(c) The making of, or offering to make, any contract respecting the purchase or sale, either upon credit or upon margin, of any securities or commodities, wherein both parties do not intend, or such keeper does not intend, the actual or bona fide receipt or delivery of such securities or commodities, but do intend, or such keeper does intend, a settlement of such contract based upon the differences in such public market quotations of prices at which said securities or commodities are, or are asserted to be, bought and sold.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 36 - Bucketing Contracts; Keeper of Shop; Domestic and Foreign Corporations

Section 36. Whoever makes, or offers to make, any contract of bucketing or bucket-shopping, or who is the keeper of any bucket shop, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year. Whoever shall be convicted of a second offence shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than five years. The continuing of the keeping of a bucket shop, by any person, after the first conviction therefor, shall be deemed a second offence hereunder. If a domestic corporation shall be convicted of a second offence, the supreme judicial court may, upon an information in equity in the name of the attorney general, at the relation of the commissioner of revenue, dissolve the corporation; and if a foreign corporation shall be convicted of a second offence, the supreme judicial court may, in the same manner, restrain it from doing business in this commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 37 - Prohibited Contracts; Price Quotations

Section 37. Whoever shall communicate, receive, exhibit or display in any manner any statement of quotations of prices of any securities or commodities with an intent to make, or offer to make, or to aid in making, or offering to make, any contract prohibited by the preceding section shall be punished as provided therein.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 38 - Purchases and Sales of Securities or Commodities; Written Statement

Section 38. Every person shall furnish, upon demand, to any customer or principal for whom such person has executed any order for the actual purchase or sale of any securities or commodities, either for immediate or future delivery, a written statement containing the names of the persons from whom such property was bought, or to whom it has been sold, as the fact may be, the time when, place where and the price at which the same was either bought or sold; and if such person refuses or neglects to furnish such statement within twenty-four hours after such demand, such refusal or neglect shall be prima facie evidence that such purchase or sale was bucketing or bucket-shopping.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 39 - Gifts to Influence Business Affairs; Threats

Section 39. (a) Whoever, in relation to any transaction or matter concerning the business affairs of an employer, principal or beneficiary (1) offers, gives or agrees to give an agent or fiduciary of another person any benefit or anything of value with intent to influence the recipient's conduct, or (2) as an agent or fiduciary, solicits, accepts or agrees to accept any benefit or anything of value from another person who is not an employee, principal, or beneficiary upon an agreement or understanding that such benefit or thing of value will influence his conduct, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years, or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars, or both.
(b) Whoever, verbally or by a written or printed communication, threatens an economic injury to another, or threatens to deprive another of an economic opportunity, with intent to compel that person to do any act, involving the use or disposition of anything of value against his will, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years, or in the house of correction for not more than two years, or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars, or both. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any labor disputes as defined in section two of chapter one hundred and fifty A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 39a - Gifts to Influence Action of Participants In, and Others Connected With, a Game or Contest

Section 39A. Whoever gives, promises or offers to any professional or amateur baseball, football, hockey, polo, tennis or basketball player or any boxer or any player who participates or expects to participate in any professional or amateur game or sport or any jockey, driver or groom or any person participating or expecting to participate in any horse race, including owners of race tracks and their employees, stewards, trainers, judges, starters or special policemen, or to any manager, coach or trainer of any team or participant or prospective participant in any such game, contest or sport, any valuable thing with intent to influence him to lose, or try to lose, or cause to be lost, or to limit his or his team's margin of victory in, a baseball, football, hockey or basketball game, boxing, tennis or polo match or a horse race or any professional or amateur sport, or game, in which such player or participant or jockey or driver, is taking part or expects to take part, or has any duty or connection therewith, or whoever, being a professional or amateur baseball, football, hockey, basketball, tennis or polo player, boxer, or jockey, driver, or groom or participant or prospective participant in any sport or game or a manager, coach or trainer of any team or individual participant or prospective participant in any such game, contest or sport, solicits or accepts any valuable thing to influence him to lose, or try to lose, or cause to be lost, or to limit his or his team's margin of victory in, a baseball, football, hockey or basketball game or boxing, tennis or polo match, or horse race or any game of sport in which he is taking part, or expects to take part, or has any duty or connection therewith, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two years, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 40 - Appointment, Reinstatement or Discharge of Employee of Public Service Corporation or Racing Licensee on Recommendation of Public Officer, Officer Elect or Candidate

Section 40. No railroad, street railway, electric light, gas, telegraph, telephone, water or steamboat company, and no licensee conducting a horse or dog racing meeting under chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A, shall appoint, promote, reinstate, suspend or discharge any person employed or seeking employment by any such company or licensee at the request of the governor, lieutenant governor, or any member or member elect of the council or of the general court, or candidate therefor, justice of the supreme judicial court, justice of the superior court, judge of probate, judge of the land court, justice of a district court, district attorney, member or member elect of a board of county commissioners, or candidate for county commissioner, mayor or mayor elect of a city, or candidate therefor, member or member elect of a board of aldermen, or selectmen, or city council, or any executive, administrative or judicial officer, clerk or employee of any branch of the government of the commonwealth or of any county, city or town; nor shall any such public officer or body, or any member or member elect thereof or candidate therefor, directly or indirectly advocate, oppose or otherwise interfere in, or make any request, recommendation, endorsement, requirement or certificate relative to, and the same, if made, shall not be required as a condition precedent to, or be in any way regarded or permitted to influence or control, the appointment, promotion, reinstatement or retention of any person employed or seeking employment by any such company or licensee, and no such person shall solicit, obtain, exhibit, or otherwise make use of any such official request, recommendation, certificate or endorsement in connection with any existing or desired employment by a public service corporation or by any such licensee. Any person or corporation violating any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 41 - Offices Not Public Offices Under Sec. 40

Section 41. The offices of probation officer, notary public, justice of the peace, prison officer, agent of the commissioner of correction and agent of the department of public welfare shall not be considered public offices within the meaning of the preceding section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271 - Crimes Against Public Policy › Section 42 - Boxing Matches or Exhibitions; Betting or Selling Pools

Section 42. Whoever bets or wagers or sells pools on any boxing or sparring match or exhibition shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than three months or by a fine of not less than fifty dollars, or both; provided, however, that such provisions shall not apply to sports wagering conducted pursuant to chapter 23N.