Massachusetts General Laws
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, § 8 (2026)
Justification in libel cases
✓ text as last checked Sept. 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
MAmalegislature.gov (official)
JustiaChapter on Justia
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
Section 8. The defendant in a prosecution for writing or publishing a libel may introduce in evidence the truth of the matter contained in the publication charged as libellous, and the truth shall be a justification, unless actual malice is proved.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1
case, 1927–1927 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Enwright, 156 N.E. 65 (Mass. 1927).
Commonwealth v. Enwright, 156 N.E. 65 (Mass. 1927). “G. L. c. 278, § 8. In putting in its own case, the Commonwealth introduced evidence tending to prove the truth of some of the alleged libellous statements, and the untruthfulness of others.”
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.