United States First Circuit

In this case, plaintiffs were subject to an investigatory report by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission finding them unsuitable as proposed operators of a casino for which they sought a license. Plaintiffs assert claims charging denial of Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment procedural and substantive due process and equal protection of the laws by defendants, seeking withdrawal of the report and cessation of any further reliance on it by the Commission, seeking compensatory and punitive damages, and charging tortious interference with a contract. The district court dismissed the federal claims as beyond the scope of federal affordable relief and exercised its discretion to dismiss the state law claim as standing alone. Dismissal is affirmed, where: 1) plaintiffs have alleged no cognizable protected property interest said to have been infringed in violation of Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment due process; and 2) Fourteenth Amendment equal protection does not extend to redress action taken under state law authorizing the exercise of highly discretionary judgment in response to an application to license activity carrying substantial risks of commercial and social harm.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/13/2015
• Published 02/13/2015

Judges

• Souter

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel