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Massachusetts Domestic Violence Law

Massachusetts Domestic Violence Penalties, M.G.L. c. 265 § 13M

What you are facing under M.G.L. c. 265 § 13M, how the penalties scale, and the questions an attorney needs to answer — under Massachusetts (MA) domestic-violence law.

Massachusetts (MA) — Assault and Battery on a Family or Household Member

Offense class: Misdemeanor

Incarceration

– 2.5 years

Maximum Fine

$5,000

Offense Class

Misdemeanor

What this costs

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Federal firearms ban (

Lautenberg Amendment

Plain language

A federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)) that bans gun possession after a misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction — separate from state penalties.

)

A misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction in Massachusetts triggers a federal firearms-possession ban under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). This applies on top of any state sentence, no matter how the Massachusetts case ends.

Massachusetts Domestic Violence Penalty Range

FactorDetail
StatuteM.G.L. c. 265 § 13M
OffenseAssault and Battery on a Family or Household Member
ClassMisdemeanor
Incarceration – 2.5 years
Maximum fine$5,000

Penalty Enhancements

Additional factors that can increase the sentence under Massachusetts law.

  • Subsequent offense (§ 13M(b), up to 5 years)
  • Strangulation or suffocation (§ 15D, felony)

Massachusetts note: Second and subsequent DV offense: mandatory 60 days minimum. Strangulation/suffocation is a separate felony (§ 15D).

What you're afraid of

Massachusetts domestic violence defendants tell us they're afraid of four things. Here's how we address each.

Every citation in your report links back to a real CourtListener URL or a real state statute page. Your attorney can verify everything in under five minutes. We sit alongside your attorney — we don't replace them.

  • What if I take the wrong plea — or the wrong sentence?

    Most defendants take the first plea offered. We pull the comparable cases in your district and your judge's prior rulings, so you can see what the floor actually is before deciding.

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  • What if my attorney isn't actually listening — or preparing?

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  • I don't even know what I don't know.

    The hardest part of a criminal case is not knowing which questions matter. The Intelligence Brief pulls the most-cited opinions in your district + your charge, mapped to your judge's prior rulings, and surfaces the five questions that move the needle in front of this prosecutor.

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  • What if I bring my attorney a number they dismiss?

    If you bring your attorney a number they can't trace to a source, the conversation is over. Every number in our report is a hyperlink. Your attorney clicks, verifies, and the conversation continues.

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We're not here to replace your attorney. We're here to make sure you walk into their office knowing the right questions to ask.

What you're paying for is the time

Skip the 6-10 hours of reading. We already did it.

Defendants are already doing this work themselves — on r/legaladvice / r/Ask_Lawyers / Avvo Q&A, in Google searches, in the long thread of “what happens if I plead X” questions every public legal-help surface carries. The data is public. The reading is the work.

  • r/legaladvice + r/Ask_Lawyers (source): thousands of 'what happens if I plead X' threads, none of them indexed to your specific charge or your state's statute.

  • Avvo Q&A (source): per-charge plain-language threads, attorney answers gated behind per-minute meters.

  • Your state's official statute site: the actual statute text, the actual sentencing range, the actual enhancement triggers.

We hand you the synthesis — cited, hyperlinked, organized for your charge — for $127.

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Is your Massachusetts domestic violence case defense on track?

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26 questions that change how the next attorney meeting goes, a case stage roadmap, red flag checklist, and a case progress scorecard. Instant PDF download, relevant to Massachusetts defendants.

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Other Massachusetts defense topics

Facing a different charge in Massachusetts? Penalty ranges, enhancements, and defense questions for related crimes:

DUI in MassachusettsDrug Possession in MassachusettsAssault in Massachusetts

This page provides legal information — not legal advice — about Massachusetts domestic violence law as of the date of publication. Laws change. Verify current statutes with a licensed attorney in Massachusetts.