Court Opinion

ID: 9470857
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:17:51.589997+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:42:08.356235
License: Public Domain

BOWNES,
Circuit Judge (concurring).
I agree with the result reached by the majority, but write separately to ensure that the majority opinion is not misread as holding that a licensee has no protection under the due process clause.
The majority correctly notes that on January 6, 1982, the Nantucket Board of Selectmen voted that licenses issued in late 1981 for operation of video games in 1982 did not comply with Mass.Gen.Laws Ann. ch. 140, § 177A, and were therefore void. At that meeting the Board also adopted a new regulation requiring a public hearing prior to the issuance of a video game license.
It is my understanding that the Board retreated from its initial position that plaintiffs’ license was invalid under the licensing scheme in place prior to the January 6 amendment. Instead, the Board retroactively applied the new regulation, which required it to conduct a public hearing to determine whether plaintiffs’ license should be revoked. Under these circumstances plaintiffs were not denied due process of law.