Judge reinstates alcohol delivery by company nabbed serving BC freshmen, at least for now

A Suffolk Superior Court judge last week ordered the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission to give Gopuff, a Philadelphia-based delivery company, its license to deliver alcohol back while its lawsuit against the commission proceeds.

The commission revoked the company's license to deliver alcohol - and the liquor license of its specific outlet in Newton - after hearing evidence that the location had become the go-to place for Boston College freshmen to get deliveries of all sorts of alcohol with fake IDs, and with duffel bags or wheeled luggage with which to transport the booze back to their dorms after meeting Gopuff delivery people on the street a couple blocks off campus.

Gopuff sued and asked for a preliminary injunction to resume business while its suit progresses. It argued that complete license revocation was far more severe a punishment than the commission had meted out to other first-time violators and that it had completely revamped its delivery services since it was caught in 2021.

In his order, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Kenneth Salinger did not explain his reasons for granting the preliminary injunction, in which the commission was "enjoined and barred" from blocking the company from doing deliveries, at least "until further notice of this court."