bedrock principle in Massachusetts

2026"It is a bedrock principle of negligence law that a defendant cannot and should not be held liable for a harm unless the defendant caused the harm." Doull v. Foster, 487 Mass. 1 , 6-7 (2021), citing Wainwright v. Jackson, 291 Mass. 100, 102 (1935) ("The general rule is that one cannot be held liable for negligent conduct unless it is causally related to injury of the plaintiff").

2021See Wainwright v. Jackson, 291 Mass. 100, 102 (1935) ("The general rule is that one cannot be held liable for negligent conduct unless it is causally related to injury of the plaintiff").

2019See also Custody of Eleanor , 414 Mass. 795 , 800-801, 610 N.E.2d 938 (1993) (where allegation of sexual assault was later withdrawn, that allegation "in the absence of any corroboration or physical evidence of sexual abuse ... cannot be said [to establish] parental unfitness ... by clear and convincing evidence").

2019See also Custody of Eleanor , 414 Mass. 795 , 800-801, 610 N.E.2d 938 (1993) (where allegation of sexual assault was later withdrawn, that allegation "in the absence of any corroboration or physical evidence of sexual abuse ... cannot be said [to establish] parental unfitness ... by clear and convincing evidence").

2019See Texas v. Johnson , 491 U.S. 397 , 414, 109 S.Ct. 2533 , 105 L.Ed.2d 342 (1989) ("If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable").

2019See Texas v. Johnson , 491 U.S. 397 , 414, 109 S.Ct. 2533 , 105 L.Ed.2d 342 (1989) ("If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable").

2005The peer review privilege, like all privileges, must be construed in light of the bedrock principle that the law is entitled to eveiy man’s evidence. 1 United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 709 (1974).

2004United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 709 (1974).

2026And while it is true that a plaintiff need not "exclude all other possible causes" for the injury, "[s]he must 4 show that there is a greater probability than not that the accident resulted from the defendant's negligence." Enrich v. Windmere Corp., 416 Mass. 83, 87 (1993).

2025See Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. 400, 406 (1965).

2024See Commonwealth v. Baez, 480 Mass. 328, 332 (2018) (no violation of art. 26 where Legislature's statutory scheme allowed even predicate offenses that were committed when defendant was under age eighteen to count toward enhanced mandatory minimum sentences under Armed Career Criminal Act).

2019See Adoption of Eden , 88 Mass. App. Ct. 293 , 296, 37 N.E.3d 650 (2015) ("It is a bedrock principle that parental rights may not be terminated on the basis of an unproven allegation, even one as grave as [the sexual abuse allegation there]").

2019See Adoption of Eden , 88 Mass. App. Ct. 293 , 296, 37 N.E.3d 650 (2015) ("It is a bedrock principle that parental rights may not be terminated on the basis of an unproven allegation, even one as grave as [the sexual abuse allegation there]").

2018See In re Winship , 397 U.S. 358 , 364, 90 S.Ct. 1068 , 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970).

2018See In re Winship , 397 U.S. 358 , 364, 90 S.Ct. 1068 , 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970).

2016See Commonwealth v. Bergstrom, 402 Mass. 534, 544-545 (1988); Commonwealth v. Dorisca, 88 Mass. App. Ct. 776, 776-777 (2016).

2016See Commonwealth v. Bergstrom, 402 Mass. 534, 544-545 (1988); Commonwealth v. Dorisca, 88 Mass. App. Ct. 776, 776-777 (2016).

2014“The First Amendment affords protection to symbolic or expressive conduct as well as to actual speech.” Black v. Virginia, 538 U.S. 343, 358 (2003).

2012Ry. v. Botsford, 141 U.S. 250, 251 (1891).

2011See Miller v. Miller, 448 Mass. 320, 325 (2007) (where both parties have briefed issue, “it would be a waste of judicial resources for that issue to remain unresolved”); ROPT Ltd.

2005In Massachusetts, privileges are exceptions to the general dufy on all people to testify," Commonwealth v. Corsetti, 387 Mass. 1, 5 (1982), and must be strictly construed.

2005See Bockting v. Bayer, 399 F.3d 1010, 1021 (9th Cir. 2005) (reasoning that (1) the Supreme Court describes the right to confrontation as a “bedrock procedural guarantee,” (2) the harmless error standard of review used to assess misapplication of constitutional rules is appropriate where the impact of the error is measurable but its use does not answer the question of whether the constitutional rule increases the likelihood of an accurate conviction or is a bedrock rule of procedure; and (3) because the Confrontation Clause is designed to promote accuracy, “the Crawford’ rule is one without whi

2004Lovett v. Commonwealth, 103 S.W.3d 72, 83 (2003). 3 With little guidance in the application of the statutory language of undue hardship in the Uniform Act, this court relies on the bedrock principle that the law is entitled to every person’s evidence.