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A couple of weeks ago a cab driver refused to let me out of his cab. In the aftermath of that incident, I went to look up the laws in Massachusetts on false imprisonment and could not find any law against it. I know that in some states false imprisonment is a felony, but I could not find any Massachusetts statute making it a crime.

Am I missing something or is false imprisonment not a crime in Massachusetts?

Cicero
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  • On what basis was he refusing to let you out? Here is the only thing I can find that may pertain to this, but whether it was or not depends on if the driver had reasonable suspicion that you were defrauding him. – Ron Beyer Oct 16 '18 at 21:09
  • @RonBeyer It does not matter. There is no scenario where imprisoning someone in a cab or refusing to let them out should be legal. There is an answer to the question already that makes clear that forcible imprisonment is a felony. – Cicero Oct 16 '18 at 21:29
  • It does matter though because if you didn't pay, the merchant (cab driver) has a right to detain you. That is what the statute I linked to says, as a defense to the statute in the answer. So yes, it is legal for any merchant to detain somebody who is trying to defraud them, otherwise malls couldn't have security guards with that right. – Ron Beyer Oct 16 '18 at 21:32
  • @RonBeyer The exception that you linked only applies to storekeepers and innkeepers and specifically allows arresting people only for shoplifting or for trying to leave a hotel without paying after specifically "putting up", meaning signed into the hotel. If you are trying to suggest that it is ok or legal for a cab to drive off or put a cab into motion with an unwilling passenger inside, I think you will find zero legislative support for that idea. In the UK, for example, they have very strict laws forbidding such things and cab drivers there have been sent to prison for capturing passengers. – Cicero Oct 16 '18 at 22:08
  • I have read of cases where a cab driver who claims that a passenger is trying to leave without paying drive to the nearest police station, or call 911, and ask that the person be arrested for theft of services. This might be considered a citizen's arrest until the police arrive. I am not sure this would be legal, but it doesn't seem to fit the kidnapping statute cited below, as the driver could claim "lawful authority" to apprehend someone committing theft of service. – David Siegel Oct 16 '18 at 23:57
  • https://www.gjllp.com/news/arrests-for-failure-to-pay-taxi-fare-desk-appearance-tickets/ claims that in such cases " taxi drivers typically will call police or drive their passengers to police precincts for arrest. There, police officers will typically arrest the passengers and fingerprint them and give them Desk Appearance Tickets charging them with one count of Theft of Services" That is in NY not MA, for what difference that may make. – David Siegel Oct 17 '18 at 00:01
  • @DavidSiegel I don't know NY law on this, but it seems like a dangerous game for a cab driver to play. False imprisonment is a serious felony. Kidnapping a passenger over a fare dispute is potentially terrifying to the passenger and could result in a dangerous situation if the passenger tried to get out of the moving vehicle. I really find it hard to believe NY has laws that allow cab drivers to try to trap passengers in their vehicles to force them to pay. – Cicero Oct 17 '18 at 03:19
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    Perhaps you should modify your question to specify that the cab driver refused to let you out AND DROVE with you still in the cab. Your comment suggests that this is what happened, but @RonBeyer had no way of knowing that when he wrote his comment. I don't know if that detail changes the legality or not. – James Oct 17 '18 at 11:27
  • @James That has nothing to do with my question. The question is about false imprisonment laws in Massachusetts. – Cicero Oct 17 '18 at 13:45
  • @Cicero: Maybe so, but you're the one who brought it up. "If you are trying to suggest that it is ok or legal for a cab to drive off or put a cab into motion with an unwilling passenger inside" – James Oct 17 '18 at 14:11
  • @Cicero, I can't say for sure what the law is in NY or in Mass either. I found multiple news reports of such actions in NYC, in none of which was it suggested or even hinted that the driver would be charged with any offense. I found two posts from law firms on the subject, which advised passengers to call them if they were charged in such cases, and advised against making citizen's arrests. I think that if the driver drives directly to the police, there is a case to be made that this is not kidnapping in the legal sense. If the driver goes elsewhere, that might be different. – David Siegel Oct 17 '18 at 16:52
  • @DavidSiegel Imprisoning someone in a car against their will is false imprisonment, it does not matter where they are taking them. In Massachusetts there are only two exceptions to the law cited in the answer: a shopkeeper arresting a shoplifter and an innkeeper arresting a room skipper. There is a big difference between imprisoned in a fixed premise and being imprisoned in a vehicle and I cannot imagine it being legal to do so, especially for safety reasons as I outlined above. – Cicero Oct 17 '18 at 17:22
  • @Cicero: The law cited in the answer says "Whoever, without lawful authority, forcibly or secretly confines or imprisons another person..." If they are detaining the person to await the police, or if they take the person to the police, and particularly if they make a citizen's arrest, perhaps they have 'lawful authority". – David Siegel Oct 17 '18 at 18:21

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As in some other jurisdictions, what most people think of as "false imprisonment" is categorized as kidnapping in Massachusetts, codified at Chapter 265, Section 26:

Whoever, without lawful authority, forcibly or secretly confines or imprisons another person within this commonwealth against his will, or forcibly carries or sends such person out of this commonwealth, or forcibly seizes and confines or inveigles or kidnaps another person, with intent either to cause him to be secretly confined or imprisoned in this commonwealth against his will, or to cause him to be sent out of this commonwealth against his will or in any way held to service against his will, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars and imprisonment in jail for not more than two years. Whoever commits any offence described in this section with the intent to extort money or other valuable thing thereby shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of years.

Separate from the criminal offense, Massachusetts courts also recognize civil actions for false imprisonment.

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