Massachusetts § 1 Persons entitled to writ; exceptions

Massachusetts Statutes

§ 1 — Persons entitled to writ; exceptions

Massachusetts § 1

Part IIICOURTS, JUDICIAL OFFICERS AND PROCEEDINGS IN CIVIL CASES

Title IVCERTAIN WRITS AND PROCEEDINGS IN SPECIAL CASES

Ch. 248HABEAS CORPUS AND PERSONAL LIBERTY

This text of Massachusetts § 1 (Persons entitled to writ; exceptions) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 248, § 1 (2026).

Text

Section 1. Whoever is imprisoned or restrained of his liberty may, as of right and of course, prosecute a writ of habeas corpus, according to this chapter, to obtain release from such imprisonment or restraint, if it proves to be unlawful, unless—First, He has been committed for treason or felony, or on suspicion thereof, or as accessory before the fact to a felony, and the cause has been plainly expressed in the warrant of commitment.Second, He has been convicted or is in execution upon legal process, civil or criminal.Third, He has been committed on mesne process in a civil action in which he was liable to arrest and imprisonment, unless excessive and unreasonable bail was required.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Section 1. Whoever is imprisoned or restrained of his liberty may, as of right and of course, prosecute a writ of habeas corpus, according to this chapter, to obtain release from such imprisonment or restraint, if it proves to be unlawful, unless—First, He has been committed for treason or felony, or on suspicion thereof, or as accessory before the fact to a felony, and the cause has been plainly expressed in the warrant of commitment.Second, He has been convicted or is in execution upon legal process, civil or criminal.Third, He has been committed on mesne process in a civil action in which he was liable to arrest and imprisonment, unless excessive and unreasonable bail was required.