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The legal system is based on common law, which is interpreted by case law through the decisions of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, and the Appellate Divisions of the Massachusetts District Court and the Boston Municipal Court departments, which are published in the Massachusetts Reports, Massachusetts ...
The Massachusetts General Laws is a codification of many of the statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Commonwealth's laws are promulgated by an elected bicameral ("two-chamber") legislative body, the Massachusetts General Court. The resulting laws—both Session Laws and General Laws—together make up the statutory law of the ...
The state has an open-meeting law enforced by the attorney general, and a public-records law enforced by the Secretary of the Commonwealth. [24] A 2008 report by the Better Government Association and National Freedom of Information Coalition ranked Massachusetts 43rd out of the 50 US states in government transparency.
Updates to the CMR are published in the bi-weekly Massachusetts Register from the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. The Code is organized by executive cabinet agency. In citations, the number before the "CMR" refers to the issuing agency, and the numbers thereafter refer to a specific chapter or section. [1]
A study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition rated Massachusetts as being the least affordable state in which to rent an apartment in 2003. [6] Despite the law, fewer new affordable housing units are built in Massachusetts compared to the state's needs. The state government as a policy works toward increasing the supply of inexpensive ...
Massachusetts shares with the five other New England states a governmental structure known as the New England town.Only the southeastern third of the state has functioning county governments; in western, central, and northeastern Massachusetts, traditional county-level government was eliminated in the late 1990s.
Initiative petition, the Bay State's specific legal term for a public method for Massachusetts residents to affect Constitutional law, for example, Proposition 2½; Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641) Instrument of Government (1653) Law of Massachusetts; State constitution (United States)
The judiciary of Massachusetts is the branch of the government of Massachusetts that interprets and applies the law of Massachusetts, ensures equal justice under law, and provides a mechanism for dispute resolution. The judicial power in Massachusetts is reposed in the Supreme Judicial Court, which superintends the entire system of courts.