On August 27, 2024, the Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) of Massachusetts in the matter of Commonwealth v. Canjura, held that laws prohibiting the possession of switchblade style knives are unconstitutional under the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. The…
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Massachusetts Law on Vehicle Inspections and Grace Period Under Massachusetts law, every owner or operator of a vehicle that is newly acquired in the Commonwealth must submit the vehicle for inspection within seven days of the date when the vehicle…
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Under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, criminal defendants are afforded the constitutional right to legal counsel. The Right to Counsel and Effective Representation The right to counsel includes the right to the attorney of choice if the…
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The Growing Use of Shot Spotter Technology in Criminal Prosecution Shot Spotter evidence is growing in popularity across the United States in the criminal prosecution of firearm offenses. What is Shot Spotter? Understanding the Gunfire Alert System Shot Spotter is…
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The Sixth Amendment and the Right to a Jury Trial The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that a criminal defendant has the right to a trial by jury. In Massachusetts, this right may be waived by the…
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When a vehicle is stopped by police for an observed traffic violation in Massachusetts, the officer may ask the driver and/or passengers to step out from the vehicle. This is known as an exit order. Under federal law, police may…
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When trying to identify a crime suspect, police may conduct out-of-court identification procedures such as lineups, face-to-face identifications, or photo arrays. The photo array identification procedure is where a law enforcement officer attempts to identify a suspect by displaying a…
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In criminal law, knowledge is an important legal element required to prove that someone has knowingly received stolen property. In order order to be found guilty of the crime, receiving stolen property, the following legal elements must be established…
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Probation is one of the most common forms of criminal punishment imposed in the Massachusetts criminal justice system. Convicted offenders may be sentenced to a term of straight probation, a term of probation that runs concurrently with a suspended jail sentence,…
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Equal protection under the law for minorities and other protected classes of persons has been an ongoing legal issue for centuries. All too frequently, the prohibition against facially discriminatory laws and criminal procedures has been inadequate to address racism and…
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