Commonwealth v. Starr
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Complaint on the Pub. Sts. e. 98, § 2, alleging that the defendant, at Boston, on November 21, 1886, that day being the Lord’s day, “ did keep open bis shop there situate, and numbered fifty-one in Salem Street, for the purpose of doing business therein, the- same not being then and there works of necessity or charity.”
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Complaint on the Pub. Sts. e. 98, § 2, alleging that the defendant, at Boston, on November 21, 1886, that day being the Lord’s day, “ did keep open bis shop there situate, and numbered fifty-one in Salem Street, for the purpose of doing business therein, the- same not being then and there works of necessity or charity.” Trial in the Superior Court, before Mason, J., who allowed a bill of exceptions, in substance as follows: There was evidence for the government tending to show that the defendant was the proprietor of a meat-shop, at No. 51 Salem Street, in Boston; that he resided in the rear…
1Opinion of the CourtMorton, C. J.
The evidence shows that the defendant, who is a Hebrew, kept open his shop on the Lord’s day, for the purpose of selling meat to Hebrews. The court correctly held that the facts that he was a Hebrew, who conscientiously believed that the seventh day of the week ought to be observed as the Sabbath, and that he actually refrained from secular business on that day, were immaterial. This point was fully considered and decided in Commonwealth v. Has, 122 Mass. 40.
The court also correctly held that it was not competent for the defendant to prove that he kept open his shop for the sole purpose of…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Commonwealth v. HasMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1877
- Commonwealth v. DextraMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1886
3Cited by10 opinions
- McGowan v. MarylandSupreme Court of the United States · 1961
- Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Massachusetts, Inc.Supreme Court of the United States · 1961
- People v. FriedmanNew York Court of Appeals · 1950
- Crown Kosher Super Market of Mass., Inc. v. GallagherDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts · 1959
- Commonwealth v. ChernockMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1957
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