The 12th annual Memorial Day weekend Weedstock festival was shut down last Friday by police, and 12 arrests were made, including the festival’s organizer, Ben Masel.
Earlier in the day Masel had obtained a court order prohibiting Sauk County Sheriff Randy Stammen from arresting the festival-goers for unlawful assembly. Stammen subsequently procured a court order from another county judge ordering the festival be shut down because Masel had failed to get a permit under a recently adopted county ordinance restricting outdoor events to no more than 1,000 people.
Masel, along with the 11 others arrested, was charged with contempt of court for violating the order.
“We intend to vigorously litigate the right of freedom of assembly in this case,” said Masel’s attorney, Jeff Scott Olson, Esq., of Madison, WI. “We believe that all of the county’s actions have been taken on the strength of an unconstitutional ordinance.”
For more information, please contact Jeff Scott Olson, Esq., at (608) 283-6001.
