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An employee alleged that her female supervisor subjected her to a sexually hostile environment under G.L. c. 151B, § 4(16A), claiming unwelcome physical and verbal sexual conduct that interfered with her work. The supervisor denied the allegations, asserting that any romantic or physical interactions were consensual. After a jury found for the supervisor…

In Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (2003), seven same-sex couples sued the Massachusetts Department of Public Health after being denied marriage licenses, arguing that the exclusion of same-sex couples from civil marriage violated the Massachusetts Constitution. The Supreme Judicial Court held that the state’s marriage…

A medical student/nursing mother alleged that the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) violated her rights under Massachusetts law by denying her additional break time and a private space to express breast milk during the United States Medical Licensing Examination. The trial court granted summary judgment for the NBME, finding no violation of the …

A woman was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after attempting an unassisted home childbirth in which her viable fetus died. The trial court found that she used excessive force to accelerate delivery, and failed to call for medical help despite recognizing a breech positioning. On appeal, the Supreme Judicial Court reversed, holding that the Commonwealth had not proven her actions caused the death, and that failing to call for help was not a legally sufficient cause of…

A woman sought to be recognized as the legal parent of two children conceived by her former partner through in vitro fertilization during their long-term relationship. They were never married. Although the woman was not biologically related to the children and had not formally adopted them, she helped plan their conception, was present at their births, lived with them, and shared in their upbringing, financial support, and public representation as their mother. The Probate…

In Verdrager v. Mintz (2016), the plaintiff alleged that she was subjected to gender discrimination, harassment, and retaliation while working as an attorney at a Boston law firm, that culminated in her demotion in 2007 and her termination in 2008. She claimed that firm members made inappropriate comments, questioned her commitment to her work after her pregnancy, and assigned a disproportionate amount of non-billable work. After complaining…

The defendant was convicted of multiple sexual offenses against two minor girls who were living in his household. On appeal, he argued that the trial judge improperly excluded evidence of one complainant’s prior allegations of sexual abuse by a third party under the Massachusetts rape shield statute (…

In Campbell v. Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that rape under G.L. c. 265, § 22 qualifies as a predicate offense under the “force clause” of the pretrial detention statute, G.L. c…

In the case Commonwealth v. Cruz, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court considered whether a criminal conviction for threatening to commit a crime violated the First Amendment after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Counterman v. Colorado (2023)…

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 112, § 12L protects an individual’s right to make personal decisions about contraception and pregnancy. This includes their choices for preventing, starting, continuing, or terminating a pregnancy. The statute prohibits the state or its subdivisions from interfering with these choices, and also bars restrictions on medically appropriate abortion methods or the manner in which such abortion care is provided.