Six Brothers, Inc. v. Town of Brookline

Summary

The court affirmed dismissal of retailers' amended complaint, holding that Brookline's birth-year-based tobacco sales bylaw is not preempted by the Statewide Tobacco Act. The bylaw permissibly augments the Act's minimum-age restriction by further limiting tobacco sales, and it furthers rather than frustrates the Act's public-health purpose. The court also held that the bylaw satisfies rational-basis review under the Massachusetts Constitution because it neither burdens a fundamental right nor targets a suspect classification.