Gillette Stadium Suit Heads To Court

In their lawsuit filed in 2012, Paul Weldner, Lindsey Schmidt and Michael Burgess allege police violated their constitutional rights to protection against unreasonable search and seizure by taking them into protective custody during three separate concerts at the stadium. The filing was initially expected to gain class-action status, but only three plaintiffs signed on, the local Sun Chronicle reported.

The suit reportedly contends roughly 3,000 fans were detained at the stadium between 2009 and 2012, though the town claims that number was only in the hundreds.

Current Massachusetts law states a person who is presumed intoxicated following a breathalyzer test and deemed to be “incapacitated may be assisted by a police officer with or without his consent to his residence, to a facility or to a police station.”

Though people can’t be held in protective custody against their will, the law notes that “if suitable treatment at a facility is not available, an incapacitated person may be held in protective custody at a police station until he is no longer incapacitated or for a period of not longer than twelve hours, whichever is shorter.”

The fans did admit to drinking before the shows, but allege they weren’t incapacitated and were held for hours by police, missing the concerts. Their suit is seeking unspecified damages and a change in the law.