ALCOHOL INTOXICATION

It is my hope that this article is read by police officers as well as the general public. I also want to make it clear that I am not endorsing the use of alcohol by students, but merely acknowledge that it happens.

A criminal charge that I strongly feel is being abused is the charge of alcohol intoxication, or A.I. for those of you who have had experience in these matters. In order for a person to be guilty of this crime they must be either:

1. Creating a public disturbance, or be

2. So intoxicated that it appears they are in danger of harming themselves or others.

As you can see, this crime requires a good deal more intoxication than would be the case if the same person were operating a motor vehicle.

It is no crime to have been drinking and then merely be out in public (as opposed to swilling whiskey from a bottle while walking down main street) - you have to be so intoxicated that you are creating a disturbance or in danger of harming yourself or others.

Yet, our police officers are increasingly charging people with this crime when it is not warranted. How is this happening? There are two reasons:

1. The general public doesn’t realize the degree of intoxication required and wrongly assume they are guilty;

2. Even if one charged knows they are not guilty, the fine for a guilty plea is usually low and it is cheaper and less trouble to just plead guilty.

I believe a lot of our police officers know this and that is the reason they abuse this charge.
I am concerned by this abuse because it usually involves charging passengers in a vehicle being driven by a designated driver. I am personally aware of many instances when a car is stopped for some alleged traffic violation and upon finding that the driver is not under the influence, but the passengers are, the officer charge all the passengers with A.I.

We want to encourage people who are drinking and in need of transportation to seek out a sober driver and then car pool. One car full of drunks with a sober driver is much preferable to a highway full of vehicles being driven by drunks. This practice by our police officers doesn’t seem to me to be the way to encourage that practice.

I urge our law enforcement officers who stop a sober driver to not go after the passengers unless they’re actually creating a problem. I also urge people who are wrongfully charged with this offense to fight the charges in order to discourage this practice.

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Reach Roger Oliver by e-mail at rmo@oliverlawoffices.com