Lynch v. Police Commissioner

This appeal represents another phase of the protracted wrangle that began in 1988 when the plaintiff, Robert K. M. Lynch, applied to the defendant police commissioner of the city of Boston for a license (or “medallion”) to operate taxicabs (technically “hackneys”) in the city. The commissioner denied Lynch’s request because the maximum number of approved medallions (1,525, as set in 1934) had already been issued. Lynch appealed to the Department of Public Utilities (department), pursuant to St. 1934, c. 280, to authorize a higher number of medallions for the city.1 After hearings, the…