Hey look, in Texas they’re arresting people for public intoxication. No big deal, right? We don’t want people wandering the streets in a drunken stupor, exposing themselves and others to danger. Oh, wait a second. They’re arresting people while they’re in the bar? Well, that certainly puts an interesting spin on things.
And while we’re talking about bizarre alcohol-related arrests, check this one out. A 21-year-old and two friends hosted a party at their house and after the police busted the party the three were arrested. Only, um, he wasn’t even at the party. His friends were given fines, but because his name was on the lease he got to go to jail for a month! See? The system works. [discussion of this case can be found at plastic.com]
Anyway, I know that the idea is to crack down on these huge stupid college parties and prevent people from killing themselves and others, but let’s hold people responsible for their own actions–irresponsible drinking by partygoers is, first and foremost, their own fault. And, for that matter, (and this relates to the Texas story above) preemptively punishing people for legal drinking in a private establishment because they theoretically could do something bad is pretty ridiculous and an unwelcome imposition of the state into the private lives of its citizens.
Ooh, I’m perturbed about all this.
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