Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-1988
ISSN
0524-1111
Publisher
Boston Bar Association
Language
en-US
Abstract
In Vanessa Redgrave v. Boston Symphony Orchestra, Inc., 399 Mass. 93 (1987), the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued an important ruling on the parameters of the Commonwealth's relatively new Civil Rights Act (MCRA)' by answering two questions certified to it by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The SJC held that MCRA is essentially the state equivalent of 42 U.S.C. §1983 without the federal "state action" requirement.' This article briefly examines the SJC's decision in Redgrave in light of Massachusetts precedent and the vast federal experience with §1983 actions (Section I) and then considers the implications of the Court's refusal to permit the BSO to raise acquiescence to pressure from third parties as a defense to MCRA liability (Section II).
Recommended Citation
Maria O'Brien,
Vanessa Redgrave v. Boston Symphony Orchestra, Inc.: A Breach of Constitutional Dimension
(1988).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/2099
