Massachusetts § 56 - Penalties; enforcement

§ 56. Penalties; enforcement

Section 56. Whoever advertises, announces, establishes or maintains, or is concerned in establishing or maintaining a hospital, an institution for unwed mothers or a clinic, without a license granted under section fifty-one, or whoever being licensed under said section violates any provision of section fifty-one to fifty-three, inclusive, shall, for a first offense, be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, and for a subsequent offense by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two years. A separate and distinct offense shall be deemed to have been committed on every day during which any violation continues after written notice thereof by the department to the authority in charge of the hospital, the institution for unwed mothers or the clinic concerned. The commissioner shall report to the attorney general any violation of sections fifty-one to fifty-six, inclusive.

The supreme judicial or superior court shall have jurisdiction upon the filing of a civil complaint by the department to restrain and enjoin any violation of sections fifty-one to fifty-six, inclusive, or any regulations promulgated thereunder, and to take such other action as equity and justice may require to enforce them.