Section 38B Assaults upon guards; penalty - Massachusetts Statutes

[ Text of section effective until July 11, 2010. For text effective July 11, 2010, see below.]

  Section 38B. A prisoner in any jail or house of correction, or in any correctional institution of the commonwealth who commits an assault or an assault and battery upon an officer, guard or other employee of any jail, house of correction or correctional institution or upon any duly authorized officer, guard or other employee of any such jail, house of correction or correctional institution engaged in the transportation of a prisoner for lawful reasons shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years. Such sentence shall begin from and after all sentences currently outstanding and unserved at the time of said assault or assault and battery.

Chapter 127: Section 38B. Assaults upon guards; bodily substances; penalty

[ Text of section as amended by 2010, 74, Sec. 1 effective July 11, 2010. For text effective until July 11, 2010, see above.]

  Section 38B. (a) For the purposes of this section, "bodily substance'' shall mean any human secretion, discharge or emission including, but not limited to, blood, saliva, mucous, semen, urine or feces.

  (b) Any person in the custody of a correctional facility, including any jail, house of correction or state prison, who commits an assault or an assault and battery upon an officer or other employee, any volunteer or employee of a contractor in any such facility or any duly authorized officer or other employee of any such facility engaged in the transportation of a prisoner for any lawful purpose shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 2 and one-half years in a jail or house of correction or for not more than 10 years in a state prison. Such sentence shall begin from and after all sentences currently outstanding and unserved at the time of said assault or assault and battery.

  (c) Any person in the custody of a correctional facility, including any jail, house of correction or state prison, who commits an assault or an assault and battery by means of a bodily substance upon an officer or other employee, any volunteer or employee of a contractor in any such facility or any duly authorized officer or other employee of any such facility engaged in the transportation of a prisoner for any lawful purpose shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 2 and one-half years in a jail or house of correction or for not more than 10 years in a state prison. Such sentence shall begin from and after all sentences currently outstanding and unserved at the time of said assault or assault and battery.