Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 30 (2026)

Injunctive relief against dissemination of obscene matter; jurisdiction; procedures; appeal

✓ current as of July 2026

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

Section 30. The superior court shall have jurisdiction to enjoin the dissemination of any matter which is obscene. The attorney general or a district attorney within his district may request an injunction against any person, firm, or corporation which disseminates or is about to disseminate any matter which is obscene.

The person, firm, or corporation sought to be enjoined shall be entitled to a trial on the merits within one day after filing of responsive pleadings and a decision shall be rendered by the court within two days of the conclusion of the trial.

A justice of the superior court may issue a preliminary injunction pending the trial on the merits against such person, firm, or corporation which disseminates or is about to disseminate any matter which is obscene.

No preliminary injunction shall be issued without notice to the adverse party.

In any action brought as herein provided the attorney general or a district attorney shall not be required to furnish security before the issuance of any injunction provided for in this section and neither the commonwealth nor any county, shall be liable for costs or for damages sustained by reason of the injunction in cases where judgment is rendered in favor of the person, firm, or corporation sought to be enjoined.

If the court finds that the person, firm, or corporation is disseminating or is about to disseminate any obscene matter, it shall issue a permanent injunction prohibiting the dissemination of that matter. The court's order shall direct the person, firm or corporation to surrender to a sheriff or a police officer the matter found obscene and a sheriff or police officer shall be directed to seize and destroy the same.

Appeals shall be as otherwise provided by law in civil proceedings, but any party or intervenor shall have the right to an expedited appeal to the appeals court.

The procedures set forth in this section are in addition to criminal proceedings initiated under any provisions of the General Laws, and not a condition precedent thereto.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 4 cases, 1961–1981 · leading case: Commonwealth v. 707 Main Corp., 357 N.E.2d 753 (Mass. 1976).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Commonwealth v. 707 Main Corp., 357 N.E.2d 753 (Mass. 1976). · cites it 6× “First, a prior civil proceeding against this defendant under G.L.c. 272, § 30, collaterally estopped the Commonwealth from proceeding criminally under G.”

Dist. Attorney for the N. Dist. v. Three Way Theatres Corp., 357 N.E.2d 747 (Mass. 1976). · cites it 3× “Three civil cases commenced pursuant to G.L.c. 272, § 30, in different counties, were consolidated and tried before a judge in the Superior Court, Middlesex County.”

Dunigan Enter., Inc. v. Dist. Attorney for the N. Dist., 415 N.E.2d 251 (Mass. App. Ct. 1981). · cites it 2× “Undoubtedly, they sought to shut the bookstore down permanently without following the procedure provided in G. L. c. 272, § 30, as appearing in St. 1974, c.”

Demetropolos v. Commonwealth, 175 N.E.2d 259 (Mass. 1961). “We observe that the Legislature in the amendment of *661 G. L. c. 272, § 30, by St. 1956, c. 724, § 1, relating to the distribution of certain literature to a child under the age of eighteen, clearly spelled out' an intention that scienter is not an element of that crime.”

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.