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 43 - Solicitation, Disclosure, Receipt or Use of Information Concerning Public Assistance

Section 43. Any person who, except for purposes directly connected with the administration of general public assistance, old age assistance, aid to the blind, or aid to families with dependent children, and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the department of transitional assistance made under authority of section ten of chapter eighteen, or of the commission for the blind made under authority of section one hundred and forty-nine of chapter six, as the case may be, shall solicit, disclose, receive, make use of, or authorize, knowingly permit, participate in, or acquiesce in the use of, any list of, or names of, or any information concerning, persons applying for or receiving general public assistance, old age assistance, aid to families with dependent children or aid to the blind, directly or indirectly derived from the records, papers, files or communications of the department of transitional assistance, any city or town welfare department or bureau of old age assistance, or the commission for the blind, as the case may be, or acquired in the course of the performance of official duties, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the disclosure by the commissioner of revenue to the commissioner of transitional assistance or to the IV–D agency as set forth in chapter one hundred and nineteen A, in concert with a wage reporting system, of such information as may be necessary to ascertain or confirm the existence of fraud, abuse or improper payments to an applicant, for or recipient of, public assistance; and nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the disclosure to said IV–D agency of information necessary for setoff debt collection pursuant to chapter sixty-two D or any other child support enforcement purpose.
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 44 - Hospital or Sanitarium Patient; Settlement, Release or Statement; Admissibility

Section 44. Except as provided below, no settlement or general release or statement in writing signed by any person confined in a hospital or sanitarium as a patient with reference to any personal injuries for which said person is confined in said hospital or sanitarium shall be admissible in evidence, used or referred to in any manner at the trial of any action to recover damages for personal injuries or consequential damages, so called, resulting therefrom, which statement, settlement or general release was obtained within fifteen days after the injuries were sustained and such settlement or release shall be null and void unless at least five days prior to the obtaining or procuring of such general release or statement such injured party had signified in writing his willingness that such general release or statement be given. This section shall not apply to statements or releases obtained by police officers or inspectors of motor vehicles in the performance of their duty, members of the family of such person or by or on behalf of his attorney. The provisions of this section shall not apply to chapter one hundred and fifty-two.
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 46 - Discarded Containers Originally Used for Refrigerative Purposes; Removal of Doors

Section 46. Whoever fails to remove the door or doors from a container originally used for refrigerative purposes before discarding it, or setting it aside for failure to use such container, or before keeping it out of doors for sale or any other purpose in a place accessible to unattended children, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand 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 47 - Telephones; Gambling Convictions; Approval for Installation; Notices of Convictions and Removals

Section 47. A telephone shall not be installed for a person convicted of an illegal gaming activity under this chapter without the approval in writing of the head of both the police department of the municipality in which such telephone would be installed and the head of the criminal information section of the state police, and a telephone shall not be reinstalled without such approval for a period of one year from the date of removal in any premises from which it has been removed for such illegal activity, whether or not there has been a conviction. The criminal information section shall notify the telephone companies of convictions in such cases, and telephone companies doing business in the commonwealth shall notify the criminal information section of the state police of any such removals.
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 48 - Civil Service Preparatory Courses; Advertisement

Section 48. Any school or person offering courses in preparation for civil service examinations shall cause to be printed in bold type on all its advertisements and circulars and all contracts to be entered into with prospective students a statement that disabled veterans who qualify for appointment must be given preference for appointment over veterans and non-veterans and that veterans must be given preference over non-veterans. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty 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 50 - Sale of Research Papers, etc.; Taking of Examinations for Another at Educational Institutions

Section 50. Whoever, alone or in concert with others, sells to another, or arranges for or assists in such sale for another, a theme, term paper, thesis or other paper or the written results of research, knowing or having reason to know that such theme, term paper, thesis or other paper or research results or substantial material therefrom will be submitted or used by some other person for academic credit and represented as the original work of such person at an educational institution in the commonwealth or elsewhere without proper attribution as to source, or whoever takes an examination for another at any educational institution in the commonwealth, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months, 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 51 - Photos Taken Outside of First Responder's Official Duties; Penalties

Section 51. (a) As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:-
''First responder'', a law enforcement officer, a paid, call, reserve or volunteer firefighter, a paid, call, reserve or volunteer emergency medical technician or any other person whose usual and regular duties include rendering assistance at the scene of a crime, accident or other emergency.
''Immediate family member'', a spouse, child, step-child, adopted child, sibling, step sibling, adopted sibling, parent, step-parent, legal guardian, adoptive parent, grandparent or grandchild.
(b) No first responder who responds to or is otherwise present at the scene of a crime, accident or other emergency in the performance of the first responder's official duties shall take a photographic or digital image of a victim of a crime, accident or emergency unless the first responder takes the photographic or digital image: (i) in the performance of the first responder's official duties; or (ii) upon the consent of the victim or, if the victim is unable to consent, an immediate family member of the victim; provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply to the use by a first responder of body-worn cameras or cameras mounted on a first responder's vehicle.
(c) No first responder shall, other than in the performance of the first responder's official duties, transmit, disseminate or otherwise make available to a third person a photographic or digital image of a victim of a crime, accident or emergency without the consent of the victim or, if the victim is unable to consent, an immediate family member of the victim; provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply to the use by a first responder of body-worn cameras or cameras mounted on a first responder's vehicle.
(d) A first responder who knowingly violates subsection (b) or (c) shall be punished by a fine of not more than $2,000, by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or by both such fine and imprisonment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271a - Enterprise Crime › Section 2 - Enterprise Crime; Penalties

Section 2. Whoever knowingly: (1) through a pattern of criminal enterprise activity or through the collection of an unlawful debt acquires or maintains, directly or indirectly, an interest in or control of an enterprise which is engaged in, or the activities of which affect, licensed gaming under chapter 23K or ancillary industries which do business with a gaming establishment; (2) having received proceeds derived, directly or indirectly, from a pattern of criminal enterprise activity or through the collection of an unlawful debt, uses or invests, directly or indirectly, part of the proceeds, including proceeds derived from the investment, in the acquisition of an interest in real property to be used in connection with licensed gaming, or in the establishment or operation of an enterprise which is engaged in, or the activities of which affect, licensed gaming operations or ancillary industries which do business with a gaming establishment; (3) is employed by or associated with an enterprise to conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of the enterprise's affairs or activities which affect licensed gaming operations or ancillary industries which do business with a gaming establishment by engaging in a pattern of criminal enterprise activity or through the collection of an unlawful debt; or (4) conspires or attempts to violate clauses (1), (2), or (3) or attempts to so conspire; shall be guilty of enterprise crime and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 15 years or by a fine of not more than $25,000 or by both such imprisonment and fine.
Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the purchase of securities on the open market for purposes of investment made without the intention of controlling or participating in the control of the issuer, or of assisting another to do so, if the securities of the issuer held by the: (i) purchaser; (ii) members of the purchaser's immediate family; or (iii) the purchaser's accomplices in any pattern of criminal activity for the collection of an unlawful debt after such purchase do not amount, in the aggregate, to 1 per cent of the outstanding securities of any 1 class and do not confer, either in law or in fact, the power to elect 1 or more directors of the issuer.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 271a - Enterprise Crime › Section 3 - Seizure and Forfeiture of Proceeds or Property Obtained as Result of Violation of Chapter

Section 3. All monetary proceeds or other property, real, intellectual or personal, obtained directly as a result of a violation of this chapter, shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture to the commonwealth. Forfeiture proceedings shall be conducted as provided in subsections (b) to (j), inclusive of section 47 of chapter 94C. For the purposes of subsection (d) of said section 47 of said chapter 94C, the investigation and enforcement bureau of the Massachusetts gaming commission established in chapter 23K shall be considered a police department and shall be entitled to a police department's distribution of forfeiture proceedings.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 1 - Enticing Away Person Under 16 for Marriage

Section 1. Whoever fraudulently and deceitfully entices or takes away an unmarried person under sixteen from the house of such person's parents or elsewhere, without the consent of the parent or guardian, if any, under whose care and custody such person is living, for the purpose of effecting a clandestine marriage of such person without the consent of such parent or guardian, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 2 - Enticing Away Person for Prostitution or Sexual Intercourse

Section 2. Whoever fraudulently and deceitfully entices or takes away a person from the house of his parent or guardian or elsewhere, for the purpose of prostitution or for the purpose of unlawful sexual intercourse, and whoever aids and assists in such abduction for such purpose, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years or in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment in jail.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 3 - Drugging Persons for Sexual Intercourse

Section 3. Whoever applies, administers to or causes to be taken by a person any drug, matter or thing with intent to stupefy or overpower such person so as to thereby enable any person to have sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse with such person shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of years not less than ten years.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 4 - Inducing Person Under Eighteen to Have Sexual Intercourse

Section 4. Whoever induces any person under 18 years of age of chaste life to have unlawful sexual intercourse shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years or in a jail or house of correction for not more than two and one-half years or by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by both such fine and imprisonment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 4a - Inducing Minor Into Prostitution

Section 4A. Whoever induces a minor to become a prostitute, or who knowingly aids and assists in such inducement, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five, nor less than three years, and by a fine of five thousand dollars. The sentence of imprisonment imposed under this section shall not be reduced to less than three years, nor suspended, nor shall any person convicted under this section be eligible for probation, parole or furlough or receive any deduction from his sentence for good conduct or otherwise until he shall have served three years of such sentence. Prosecutions commenced under this section shall not be continued without a finding nor placed on file.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 4b - Living Off or Sharing Earnings of Minor Prostitute

Section 4B. Whoever lives or derives support or maintenance, in whole or in part, from the earnings or proceeds of prostitution committed by a minor, knowing the same to be earnings or proceeds of prostitution, or shares in such earnings, proceeds or monies, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than five years and by a fine of five thousand dollars. The sentence imposed under this section shall not be reduced to less than five years, nor suspended, nor shall any person convicted under this section be eligible for probation, parole or furlough or receive any deduction from his sentence for good conduct or otherwise until he shall have served five years of such sentence. Prosecutions commenced under this section shall not be continued without a finding nor placed on file.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 6 - Owner of Place Inducing or Suffering Person to Resort in Such Place for Sexual Intercourse

Section 6. Whoever, being the owner of a place or having or assisting in the management or control thereof induces or knowingly suffers a person to resort to or be in or upon such place, for the purpose of unlawfully having sexual intercourse for money or other financial gain, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of five years and a five thousand dollar fine.
The sentence of imprisonment imposed under this section shall not be reduced to less than two years, nor suspended, nor shall any person convicted under this section be eligible for probation, parole, or furlough or receive any deduction from his sentence for good conduct or otherwise until he shall have served two years of such sentence. Prosecutions commenced under this section shall not be continued without a finding nor placed on file.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 7 - Support From, or Sharing, Earnings of Prostitute

Section 7. Whoever, knowing a person to be a prostitute, shall live or derive support or maintenance, in whole or in part, from the earnings or proceeds of his prostitution, from moneys loaned, advanced to or charged against him by any keeper or manager or inmate of a house or other place where prostitution is practiced or allowed, or shall share in such earnings, proceeds or moneys, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of five years and by a fine of five thousand dollars.
The sentence of imprisonment imposed under this section shall not be reduced to less than two years, nor suspended, nor shall any person convicted under this section be eligible for probation, parole, or furlough or receive any deduction from his sentence for good conduct or otherwise until he shall have served two years of such sentence. Prosecutions commenced under this section shall not be continued without a finding nor placed on file.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 8 - Soliciting for Prostitute

Section 8. Whoever solicits or receives compensation for soliciting for a prostitute shall be punished by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than 2 and one-half years, or by a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 or by both such imprisonment and fine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 9 - Oath and Warrant to Enter Place for Prostitution; Detention of Person in Control and Prostitute; Recognizance to Appear as Witness

Section 9. If a person makes oath before a district court that he has probable cause to suspect that a house, building, room or place is kept or resorted to for prostitution and that a certain person owning or having or assisting in the management or control of such house, building, room or place knowingly suffers another person to be in or upon such place for the purpose of unlawfully having sexual intercourse, said court shall, if satisfied that there is probable cause thereof, issue a warrant commanding the sheriff or his deputy, or any constable or police officer, to enter such house, building, room or place and search for such owner or person in control, and take into custody both the owner or person in control and such other person as may be in or upon such place for such purpose. Said owner or person in control shall be detained for not more than twenty-four hours until complaint may be made against him, and any such other person for a reasonable time until brought before said court to be recognized with or without sureties at the discretion of said court to appear as witnesses before the next or any succeeding sitting of said court. This section shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the common law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 10 - Arrest Without Warrant

Section 10. Nothing in the preceding section shall prevent the arrest and detention without a warrant of any person who, the officer serving said process may have reasonable cause to believe, is violating any provision of this chapter, or is keeping a house, room or place resorted to for prostitution or lewdness, and said officer may upon such search arrest without a warrant any such person, and detain him until complaint may be made against him.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 11 - Corroboration of One Witness; Limitations

Section 11. A person shall not be convicted under sections 2, 4 and 6 upon the evidence of one witness only, unless his testimony is corroborated in a material particular, and prosecution for a violation of any of said sections shall not be commenced more than one year after the commission of the crime.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 12 - Procuring Person to Practice, or Enter a Place For, Prostitution; Employment Office Procuring Person

Section 12. Whoever knowingly procures, entices, sends, or aids or abets in procuring, enticing or sending, a person to practice prostitution, or to enter as an inmate or a servant a house of ill fame or other place resorted to for prostitution, whether within or without the commonwealth, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not less than three months nor more than two years. Whoever as a proprietor or keeper of an employment agency, either personally or through an agent or employee, procures or sends a person to enter as aforesaid a house of ill fame or other place resorted to for prostitution, the character of which on reasonable inquiry could have been ascertained by him, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than two hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 13 - Detaining, or Drugging to Detain, Person in Place for Prostitution

Section 13. Whoever, for any length of time, unlawfully detains or attempts to detain, or aids or abets in unlawfully detaining or attempting to detain, or provides or administers or aids or abets in providing or administering any drug or liquor for the purpose of detaining a person in a house of ill fame or other place where prostitution is practiced or allowed, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years or in the house of correction for not less than one nor more than two and one half years or by a fine of not less than one hundred 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 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 15 - Polygamy

Section 15. Whoever, having a former husband or wife living, marries another person or continues to cohabit with a second husband or wife in the commonwealth shall be guilty of polygamy, and be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years or in jail for not more than two and one half years or by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars; but this section shall not apply to a person whose husband or wife has continually remained beyond sea, or has voluntarily withdrawn from the other and remained absent, for seven consecutive years, the party marrying again not knowing the other to be living within that time, nor to a person who has been legally divorced from the bonds of matrimony.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 16 - Open and Gross Lewdness and Lascivious Behavior

Section 16. A man or woman, married or unmarried, who is guilty of open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years or in jail for not more than two years or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 17 - Incestuous Marriage or Sexual Activities

Section 17. Persons within degrees of consanguinity within which marriages are prohibited or declared by law to be incestuous and void, who intermarry or have sexual intercourse with each other, or who engage in sexual activities with each other, including but not limited to, oral or anal intercourse, fellatio, cunnilingus, or other penetration of a part of a person's body, or insertion of an object into the genital or anal opening of another person's body, or the manual manipulation of the genitalia of another person's body, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 20 years or in the house of correction for not more than 21/2 years.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 21a - Furnishing Drugs, Articles or Information for Prevention of Pregnancy or Conception

Section 21A. An authorized health care provider may administer or prescribe to any person drugs or articles for the prevention of pregnancy or conception. A registered pharmacist may provide such drugs or articles to any person presenting a prescription from an authorized health care provider; provided however, that nothing in this sentence shall prevent a registered pharmacist from providing such drugs and articles that do not require a prescription; and provided further, that emergency contraception, as defined in section 19A of chapter 94C, shall be dispensed as provided in said section 19A of said chapter 94C.
A public health agency, a registered nurse or other health care provider or a maternity health clinic operated by or in an accredited hospital may provide information on the procurement of professional advice on the lawful obtainment of drugs or articles for the prevention of pregnancy or conception to any person.
This section shall not be construed to permit the sale or dispensing of prescription drugs or devices for the prevention of pregnancy or conception by a vending machine or similar device.
For the purposes of this section, ''authorized health care provider'' means a registered physician, physician's assistant, nurse practitioner, and certified nurse midwife.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 21b - Privately Controlled Hospital or Health Facility; Abortion or Sterilization Procedures; Contraceptive Devices and Family Planning Services

Section 21B. No privately controlled hospital or other health facility shall be required to admit any patient for the purpose of performing an abortion, performing any sterilization procedure, or receiving contraceptive devices or information.
No privately controlled hospital or other privately controlled health facility shall be required to permit any patient to have an abortion, or any sterilization procedure performed in said hospital or other health facility, or to furnish contraceptive devices or information to such patient, nor shall such a hospital or other health facility be required to furnish any family planning services within or through said hospital or other health facility or to make referrals to any other hospital or health facility for such services when said services or referrals are contrary to the religious or moral principles of said hospital or said health facility as expressed in its charter, by-laws or code of ethics, or vote of its governing body.
Any such hospital or other health facility exercising the rights granted in this section shall not on account of the exercise thereof, be disciplined or discriminated against in any manner or suffer any adverse determination by any person, firm, corporation, or other entity, including but in no way limited to any political subdivision, board, commission, department, authority, or agency of the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 22 - Concealment of Death of Child Born Out of Wedlock

Section 22. A parent who conceals the death of the issue of such parent, which if born alive would be a child born out of wedlock, so that it cannot be ascertained whether it was born alive or, if born alive, whether it was murdered, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one 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 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 23 - Joinder of Charges of Murder and Offense Under Sec. 22

Section 23. A parent indicted for murder of the infant child born out of wedlock of such parent may also be charged in the same indictment with the crime described in the preceding section, and if acquitted of murder, such parent may be convicted of the concealment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 24 - Keeping House of Ill Fame

Section 24. Whoever keeps a house of ill fame which is resorted to for prostitution or lewdness shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 25 - Obstructing View of Restaurant or Tavern Patrons; Barricaded Entrances

Section 25. Any person owning, managing or controlling a restaurant, tavern or other place in any town, where food or drink is sold to the public to be consumed upon the premises or required to be licensed under chapter one hundred and thirty-eight, and any employee of such person, who provides, maintains, uses or permits the use of a booth, stall or enclosure of any description whatever which is so closed by curtains, screens or other devices that the persons within cannot at any time plainly be seen by other persons in such restaurant, tavern or other place, or in any division thereof, unless the enclosure is approved by the licensing authorities, and any person conducting such an establishment who maintains barred or barricaded entrances or exits thereto or other devices or appliances designed to impede access thereto by police officers, official inspectors and other officers entitled to enter the same, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 26 - Resorting to Restaurants or Taverns for Immoral Purposes

Section 26. Whoever, for the purpose of immoral solicitation or immoral bargaining, shall resort to any café, restaurant, tavern, as defined in section one of chapter one hundred and thirty-eight, or other place where food or drink is sold or served to be consumed upon the premises, and whoever shall resort to any such place for the purpose of, in any manner, inducing another person to engage in immoral conduct, and whoever, being in or about any such place, shall engage in any such acts, and any person owning, managing or controlling such place and any employee of such person who induces or knowingly suffers any person to resort to, or be in such place for the purpose of immoral solicitation or immoral bargaining, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than five hundred 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 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 27 - Record of Convictions Under Sec. 25 or Sec. 26 Sent to Licensing Officers

Section 27. The clerk of the court in which any person is convicted of a violation of either of the two preceding sections shall forthwith send a copy of the record of such conviction to the officer or board issuing any license or licenses under which the place where the offence was committed is conducted.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 28 - Matter Harmful to Minors, Dissemination; Possession; Defenses

Section 28. Whoever purposefully disseminates to a person he knows or believes to be a minor any matter harmful to minors, as defined in section 31, knowing it to be harmful to minors, or has in his possession any such matter with the intent to disseminate the same to a person he knows or believes to be a minor, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years or in a jail or house of correction for not more than 21/2 years, or by a fine of not less than $1000 nor more than $10,000 for the first offense, not less than $5000 nor more than $20,000 for the second offense, or not less than $10,000 nor more than $30,000 for a third or subsequent offenses, or by both such fine and imprisonment. A person who disseminates an electronic communication or possesses an electronic communication with the intent to disseminate it shall not be found to have violated this section unless he specifically intends to direct the communication to a person he knows or believes to be a minor. A prosecution commenced under this section shall not be continued without a finding or placed on file. It shall be a defense in a prosecution under this section that the defendant was in a parental or guardianship relationship with the minor. It shall also be a defense in a prosecution under this section if the evidence proves that the defendant was a bona fide school, museum or library, or was acting in the course of his employment as an employee of such organization or of a retail outlet affiliated with and serving the educational purpose of such organization.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 28c - Information or Petition Against Obscene Books; Order of Notice to Show Cause; Notice of Order; Interlocutory Adjudication; Defense

Section 28C. Whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that a book which is being disseminated, or is in the possession of any person who intends to disseminate the same, is obscene, the attorney general, or any district attorney within his district, shall bring an information or petition in equity in the superior court directed against said book by name. Upon the filing of such information or petition in equity, a justice of the superior court shall, if, upon a summary examination of the book, he is of opinion that there is reasonable cause to believe that such book is obscene, issue an order of notice, returnable in or within thirty days, directed against such book by name and addressed to all persons interested in the dissemination thereof, to show cause why said book should not be judicially determined to be obscene. Notice of such order shall be given by publication once each week for two successive weeks in a daily newspaper published in the city of Boston and, if such information or petition be filed in any county other than Suffolk county, then by publication also in a daily newspaper published in such other county. A copy of such order of notice shall be sent by registered mail to the publisher of said book, to the person holding the copyrights, and to the author, in case the names of any such persons appear upon said book, fourteen days at least before the return day of such order of notice. After the issuance of an order of notice under the provisions of this section, the court shall, on motion of the attorney general or district attorney, make an interlocutory finding and adjudication that said book is obscene, which finding and adjudication shall be of the same force and effect as the final finding and adjudication provided in section twenty-eight E or section twenty-eight F, but only until such final finding and adjudication is made or until further order of the court. It shall be an affirmative defense under this section if the evidence proves that the defendant was a bona fide school, museum or library, or was acting in the course of his employment as an employee of such organization or of a retail outlet affiliated with and serving the educational purpose of such organization.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 28d - Answer to Notice; Right to Jury Trial

Section 28D. Any person interested in the dissemination of said book may appear and file an answer on or before the return day named in said notice or within such further time as the court may allow, and may claim a right to trial by jury on the issue whether said book is obscene.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 28e - Order of Default; Adjudication

Section 28E. If no person appears and answers within the time allowed, the court may at once upon motion of the petitioner, or of its own motion, no reason to the contrary appearing, order a general default and if the court finds that the book is obscene, may make an adjudication against the book that the same is obscene.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 28f - Hearing; Evidence; Adjudication

Section 28F. If an appearance is entered and answer filed, the case shall be set down for speedy hearing, but a default and order shall first be entered against all persons who have not appeared and answered, in the manner provided in section twenty-eight E. Such hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the usual course of proceedings in equity including all rights of exception and appeal. At such hearing the court may receive the testimony of experts and may receive evidence as to the literary, artistic, political or scientific character of said book and as to the manner and form of its dissemination. Upon such hearing, the court may make an adjudication in the manner provided in said section twenty-eight E.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 28g - Objection That Mere Judgment Sought and No Relief Claimed on Issue of Knowledge

Section 28G. An information or petition in equity under the provisions of section twenty-eight C shall not be open to objection on the ground that a mere judgment, order or decree is sought thereby and that no relief is or could be claimed thereunder on the issue of the defendant's knowledge as to the obscenity.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 28h - Proceeding Under Sec. 28c as Evidence in Trial Under Sec. 29; Presumptions as to Knowledge

Section 28H. In any trial under section twenty-nine on an indictment found or a complaint made for any offence committed after the filing of a proceeding under section twenty-eight C, the fact of such filing and the action of the court or jury thereon, if any, shall be admissible in evidence. If prior to the said offence a final decree had been entered against the book, the defendant, if the book be obscene, shall be conclusively presumed to have known said book to be obscene, or if said decree had been in favor of the book he shall be conclusively presumed not to have known said book to be obscene, or if no final decree had been entered but a proceeding had been filed prior to said offence, the defendant shall be conclusively presumed to have had knowledge of the contents of said book.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 28i - Certain Procedures as Condition Precedent to Institution of Proceedings for Dissemination of Obscene Books

Section 28I. The procedures set forth in sections twenty-eight C, twenty-eight D, twenty-eight E, twenty-eight G and twenty-eight H shall be a condition precedent to the institution of any proceedings pursuant to section twenty-nine or thirty for dissemination of obscene books.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 29 - Dissemination or Possession of Obscene Matter; Punishment; Defense

Section 29. Whoever disseminates any matter which is obscene, knowing it to be obscene, or whoever has in his possession any matter which is obscene, knowing it to be obscene, with the intent to disseminate the same, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years or in a jail or house of correction for not more than two and one-half years or by a fine of not less than one thousand nor more than ten thousand dollars for the first offense, not less than five thousand nor more than twenty thousand dollars for the second offense, or not less than ten thousand nor more than thirty thousand dollars for the third and subsequent offenses, or by both such fine and imprisonment. A prosecution commenced under this section shall not be continued without a finding nor placed on file. It shall be a defense under this section if the evidence proves that the defendant was a bona fide school, museum or library, or was acting in the course of his employment as an employee of such organization or of a retail outlet affiliated with and serving the educational purpose of such organization.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 272 - Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order › Section 29a - Posing or Exhibiting Child in State of Nudity or Sexual Conduct; Punishment

Section 29A. (a) Whoever, either with knowledge that a person is a child under eighteen years of age or while in possession of such facts that he should have reason to know that such person is a child under eighteen years of age, and with lascivious intent, hires, coerces, solicits or entices, employs, procures, uses, causes, encourages, or knowingly permits such child to pose or be exhibited in a state of nudity, for the purpose of representation or reproduction in any visual material, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of not less than ten nor more than twenty years, or by a fine of not less than ten thousand nor more than fifty thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) Whoever, either with knowledge that a person is a child under eighteen years of age or while in possession of such facts that he should have reason to know that such person is a child under eighteen years of age, hires, coerces, solicits or entices, employs, procures, uses, causes, encourages, or knowingly permits such child to participate or engage in any act that depicts, describes, or represents sexual conduct for the purpose of representation or reproduction in any visual material, or to engage in any live performance involving sexual conduct, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of not less than ten nor more than twenty years, or by a fine of not less than ten thousand nor more than fifty thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(c) In a prosecution under this section, a minor shall be deemed incapable of consenting to any conduct of the defendant for which said defendant is being prosecuted.
(d) For the purposes of this section, the determination whether the person in any visual material prohibited hereunder is under eighteen years of age may be made by the personal testimony of such person, by the testimony of a person who produced, processed, published, printed or manufactured such visual material that the child therein was known to him to be under eighteen years of age, or by expert medical testimony as to the age of the person based upon the person's physical appearance, by inspection of the visual material, or by any other method authorized by any general or special law or by any applicable rule of evidence.