Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 233, § 16 (2026)

Mode requested by affiant

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 16. If a person to be sworn declares that a different mode of taking the oath is in his opinion more solemn and obligatory than the upholding of the hand, the oath may be administered in such mode.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 2 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2003–2023 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Murphy, 784 N.E.2d 1144 (Mass. App. Ct. 2003).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Commonwealth v. Murphy, 784 N.E.2d 1144 (Mass. App. Ct. 2003). “See G. L. c. 233, § 16; Commonwealth v. Smith, 11 Allen 243 , 251-252 (1865).”

John Doe, Sex Offender Registry Bd. No. 242548 v. Sex Offender Registry Bd.. (Mass. App. Ct. 2023). “On appeal, Doe argues that (1) the hearing examiner improperly prevented him from making a statement by failing to accommodate his request pursuant to G. L. c. 233, § 16, to be sworn in consistent with his religious beliefs, (2) his right to counsel was violated when the hearing…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.