The city of Detroit's anti-ticket scalping ordinance is unconstitutional and unenforceable where sellers are offering tickets to sports and concert events for face value or less, U.S. District Judge John Corbett O'Meara ruled Wednesday.

As many as 1,500 people who've been charged under the ordinance could be entitled to get damage payments from the city, an attorney said.

O'Meara also granted class-action status to the damages portion of the lawsuit. He directed Thomas Cecil, a Mason-based lawyer who represented four men charged outside of Ford Field or Comerica Park with buying or selling tickets to concerts and a football game, to present a plan for identifying and notifying others who were arrested or cited for violating the ordinance.

"There are probably anywhere from 1,200 to 1,500 people eligible," Cecil said. Once the city provides the names, there will be a mailing and an advertisement in a newspaper so that class members can take part in the lawsuit unless they opt out, he said. More>>>

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