Mass. Gen. Laws » Part IV Title I Chapter 272
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 59 (2026)

Ordinances or regulations relating to streets, reservations, or parkways; alcoholic beverages; profanity; arrest without warrant

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 59. Whoever remains in a street or elsewhere in a town in wilful violation of an ordinance or by-law of such town or of any rule or regulation for the government or use of any public reservation, parkway or boulevard made under authority of law by any department, officer or board in charge thereof, whoever is in a street or elsewhere in a town in wilful violation of an ordinance or by-law of such town or of any rule or regulation for the government or use of any public reservation, parkway or boulevard made under authority of law by any department, officer or board in charge thereof, the substance of which is the drinking or possession of alcoholic beverage, and whoever in a street or other public place accosts or addresses another person with profane or obscene language, in wilful violation of an ordinance or by-law of such town, may be arrested without a warrant by an officer authorized to serve criminal process in the place where the offence is committed and kept in custody until he can be taken before a court having jurisdiction of the offence.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 1997–2018 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Santos, 950 N.E.2d 60 (Mass. 2011).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Commonwealth v. Santos, 950 N.E.2d 60 (Mass. 2011). “140, § 129B (6); assault and battery on a police officer; and drinking an alcoholic beverage in a public place, G. L. c. 272, § 59. Malikkquann was found guilty of resisting arrest.”
Commonwealth v. Baez, 678 N.E.2d 1335 (Mass. App. Ct. 1997). “) (sheriffs and deputies may arrest whoever, “during or within twelve hours of the time of holding a cattle show, military muster or public gathering, within one mile of the place thereof, practices or engages in any gambling or unlawful game,” if discovered in the act); G. L.…”
Commonwealth v. Bones, 106 N.E.3d 1135 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018). · cites it 2× “See G. L. c. 272, § 59, as appearing in St. 1981, c.”
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.