Commonwealth v. Santiago (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-017-15)
Court rejects target standing doctrine allowing defendant to challenge search of third party. Reasonable suspicion supported investigatory stop; violation not egregious enough.
SJC Opinions
City of Somerville, et al. v. Commonwealth Employment Relations Board, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-016-15)
Municipality's authority to set health insurance contribution rates for retirees under General Laws chapter 32B is not a mandatory subject of collective bargaining with current employees.
Doe, Sex Offender Registry Board No. 34186 v. Sex Offender Registry Board (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-015-15)
Military court martial conviction under Article 134 incorporating federal child pornography statutes constitutes a "like violation" of Massachusetts sex offender registration law.
Doktor v. Doktor (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-014-15)
Alimony reform statute's retirement provision does not apply retroactively to pre-existing alimony judgments. Payor must show material change in circumstances.
Rodman v. Rodman (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-013-15)
Retirement provision of 2011 alimony reform act does not apply retroactively to alimony orders in judgments entered before act became effective.
Chin v. Merriot (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-012-15)
Alimony Reform Act provisions permitting termination based on payor's retirement or recipient's cohabitation apply prospectively only to judgments entered after the act's effective date, not retroactively to pre-existing orders.
Bay Colony Railroad Corporation v. Town of Yarmouth, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-011-15)
Federal law preempts state motor carrier regulation barring railroad-operated trucks in areas lacking rail service, even when transporting waste.
The First Marblehead Corporation, et al. v. Commissioner of Revenue (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-010-15)
Financial institution excise tax apportionment; whether loan portfolios should be assigned to servicers' locations or taxpayer's commercial domicile.
Commonwealth v. Fujita (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-009-15)
Juror names are presumptively public judicial records. Good cause, such as risk of harm, is required to withhold them. Personal preferences and privacy interests alone do not suffice.
Commonwealth v. Russell (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-008-15)
Reasonable doubt instruction using "firmly convinced" standard held constitutional but supervisory power exercised to require modernized Webster charge prospectively in all Massachusetts criminal trials.