# Robinson v. Planning Board

> Massachusetts Appeals Court · January 31, 1978 · 6 Mass. App. Ct. 835

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/6456089

## Case

- **Full name:** Elaine Robinson & others v. Planning Board of Hingham
- **Court:** Massachusetts Appeals Court
- **Decided:** January 31, 1978
- **Citations:** 6 Mass. App. Ct. 835; 372 N.E.2d 279; 1978 Mass. App. LEXIS 664
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Opinion of the court
- **Cited by:** 4 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/6456089

## Opinion text

We need not consider whether the judge was correct in *836 ruling that the meeting of the defendant board was an "emergency” meeting as defined by G. L. c. 39, § 23A (as appearing in St. 1976, c. 397, § 5), and as used in § 23B (as appearing in St. 1976, c. 397, §6) because the judge made an alternative ruling, as a matter of discretion, declining to invalidate the questioned action of the board. Section 23B, as so appearing, provides, among other things, that a court "may invalidate any action taken at any meeting at which any provision of this section has been violated____” We decline to accept the plaintiffs’ suggestion that we treat the auxiliary verb "may” as meaning "shall,” as to do so would do violence to the purposes for which § 23B was enacted. See Abbene v. Election Commrs. of Revere, 348 Mass. 247, 250-251 (1964). The judge had discretion to invalidate or not (Nantucket Land Council, Inc. v. Planning Bd. of Nantucket, 5 Mass. App. Ct. 206, 213 [1977]; Kelley v. Planning Bd of Dennis, ante 24, 26-27 [1978]), and nothing in the record indicates any abuse of that discretion.
Athur E. Nicholson, for the plaintiffs, submitted a brief.
Paul R. Schneider (George M. Ford with him) for the defendant.
Judgment affirmed.

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/6456089. Public record. Not legal advice.