Definition
Massachusetts is one of the original thirteen states of the United States of America, admitted to the Union upon ratification of the federal Constitution. It is a commonwealth — a designation it shares with Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky — though this title carries no substantive legal distinction from "state" in federal constitutional law. Massachusetts is governed by its own constitution, originally adopted in 1780 and drafted largely by John Adams, making it the oldest functioning written constitution in continuous effect in the world.
In legal research, "Massachusetts" most commonly appears in one of three capacities: (1) as a jurisdictional designation identifying the body of state law, courts, and statutes applicable to a dispute arising within or governed by the laws of the Commonwealth; (2) as a party name, most famously in Massachusetts v. EPA, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision recognizing state standing to challenge federal agency inaction on greenhouse gas regulation; and (3) as a reference point for distinctive legal doctrines developed by Massachusetts courts, particularly the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), which is the Commonwealth's highest court and one of the oldest appellate courts in continuous operation in the United States.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A state of the United States. Capital and largest city: Boston.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): [No entry for Massachusetts as a legal term in Webster's 1913.]
In ordinary usage, Massachusetts is simply a geographic and political designation. In legal research, the term carries significant jurisdictional weight: Massachusetts common law, developed through SJC decisions over more than three centuries, frequently departs from the Restatement positions and majority-rule doctrines found in other states, and Massachusetts statutory schemes — in areas ranging from tort reform to health care law — have served as national models. A researcher encountering "Massachusetts" in a legal source must attend to which Massachusetts legal regime is operative: pre-1780 colonial law, pre-Civil War Commonwealth law, or the modern statutory and constitutional framework.
Why It Matters in Research
Massachusetts presents several research traps and navigational challenges unique among the states.
First, the Commonwealth's court structure uses non-standard nomenclature. The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court; the Appeals Court is the intermediate appellate court. Trial courts are organized into several departments (Superior Court, District Court, Probate and Family Court, etc.) under the unified Trial Court. Researchers accustomed to other jurisdictions may misread citation hierarchies.
Second, Massachusetts common law has a long, independent developmental history. The SJC has on multiple occasions expressly declined to follow the Restatement (Second) or (Third) on issues such as products liability, negligence, and contract formation. Citation checking across Massachusetts sources requires attention to whether the cited authority reflects the majority American rule or a Massachusetts-specific rule.
Third, Massachusetts constitutional law operates on two tracks. The Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, which predates the federal Bill of Rights, has been interpreted by the SJC to provide broader individual protections than federal constitutional minimums in several areas, most notably in privacy and marriage equality law. Researchers working on constitutional questions must assess both state and federal constitutional dimensions separately.
Fourth, the Commonwealth's role as a party in federal environmental and administrative law litigation is of substantial doctrinal importance. Massachusetts v. EPA (2007) established that states have Article III standing to sue federal agencies over regulatory inaction affecting state-owned territory and sovereign interests — a holding with broad implications for administrative law research extending well beyond environmental law.
Fifth, older legal sources — including Bouvier's — will reflect the colonial and early Commonwealth periods, when Massachusetts law was deeply shaped by Puritan religious influence, the Plymouth Colony's separate legal history, and the gradual absorption of equity jurisdiction into the common law courts. Researchers working with pre-20th century Massachusetts legal materials should account for this distinct developmental context.
Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier's Law Dictionary identifies Massachusetts as one of the original thirteen states, notes the 1620 settlement at Plymouth by the Pilgrim Fathers (Brownists), and references the 1628 royal charter granted by Charles I to the Puritans under the name "The Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England." Bouvier's entry, as preserved in the Law Mind corpus, breaks off before completing the account of the Plymouth Colony's separate legal existence.
This truncation is historically significant: Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony operated under distinct legal frameworks for sixty years before their merger in the 1691 charter issued by William and Mary. The 1691 charter created the Province of Massachusetts Bay, which governed until the Revolution. Researchers working with colonial-era legal instruments, land grants, or probate records must identify which colonial entity — Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, or the Province — had jurisdiction, as the applicable law, courts, and land tenure systems differed materially.
Bouvier's entry does not address the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, the Commonwealth's court history, or its role in shaping early American common law — significant omissions for legal research purposes that reflect the encyclopedic rather than doctrinal orientation of 19th-century legal dictionaries on state-name entries.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Climate Change Regulation Under the Clean Air Act — Massachusetts v. EPA and Beyond (The Law Mind Environmental & Energy Law Encyclopedia) — Essential reading for researchers working on state standing in administrative law, EPA regulatory authority over greenhouse gases, and the downstream doctrinal consequences of the 2007 Supreme Court ruling in which Massachusetts was the lead petitioner.