For the longest time, Indiana has provided an arcane system of overly broad and ambiguously defined alcohol laws. (See Etzlerlaw Article, Indiana Senate Votes to Restrict Public Intoxication Law by Attorney Jacob Blackstone.) Unfortunately, the law in question did not pass the Indiana General Assembly. What did pass, however, has been coined as the “Lifeline Act”, an act that provides immunity from underage drinking or public intoxication where a person delivers another to medical services for treatment. The law takes effect July 1, 2012. (See Northwest Indiana Times article, Prom, Graduation Drinkers Not Covered by New Indiana Alcohol Immunity Law, 15 Apr 2012.
This was an issue of common sense, and was long overdue. Who ever devised the idea that the criminal offense of a minor’s consumption of alcohol was more serious than seeking medical attention? Wasn’t it poor policy in the first place to enforce and prosecute minors who deliver their friends to medical care? The excessive consumption of alcohol by minors is certainly a concern that we, as a society should address and not overlook. However, this is heavily outweighed in promoting medical care for minors when they consume alcohol (in which state many “accidents” tend to occur).
In addition, Indiana Senate Bill No. 188 (2012) would have redefined the statute to include an “endangerment” clause, but this measure did not pass the Indiana House. What this Bill would have done to the statute is to limit enforcement and prosecution for public intoxication unless the person posed a danger to him/herself, to another person, or the general public. This would have prevented the scenarios in which enforcement comports with common sense and sound public policy.
Currently, law enforcement officers often use the prosecution of these statutes as a “catch all”. What I mean by this is that when law enforcement officers make a traffic stop, or detained a person on the street for questioning, the officers often use the public intoxication or underage drinking statutes to arrest individuals that they couldn’t prove committed any offense. A good example is a person detained walking home from a party at Valparaiso University who is underage. The person does not pose a danger to him/herself, or to the general public, but the officer approaches because he noticed the student leaving the party (and knew that the party was one which was serving alcohol). The officer’s main goal or suspicion could have been to break up the party, cease or prevent the students from using marijuana, or generally to preserve the peace of the neighborhood for its older residents. Unfortunately for the officer, however, the student was not violating any laws, save the fact that he was underage and under the influence of alcohol in public. So the officer detains the “suspect” in an effort to get him to turn on his friends or classmates in breaking up the party the officer feels is a nuisance.
Another missed opportunity in my opinion was the Indiana General Assembly’s failed attempt at passing a statute that exempted DUI passengers from enforcement and prosecution. This is based upon a scenario where a driver is detained or arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, and where his/her passenger is also intoxicated. It was commonplace that the intoxicated person is also arrested for public intoxication. I strongly feel that the passenger should not be penalized for the driver’s actions, and that this yields a result that the public intoxication statute was not intended to produce.
Perhaps sometime in the near future Indiana will stop spending taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars enforcing statutes that do not protect the public. If these so called “offenders” pose a threat to Hoosiers, they would also violate other statutes. It is time that we start making our law enforcement officers do their jobs and protect our people from legitimate threats to their health, safety, and general welfare.
What do you think about alcohol laws in Indiana? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
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why is it i cannot get a straight answer on the laws governing consumption of alchohol by legal age adults in public places in the State of Indiana ?Does Indiana indeed have a law against the legal consumption of alchohol inpublic places?
Rick,
Indiana, like most states, does have a public intoxication law. It is illegal, even for adults of legal age, to be intoxicated in public. In fact, the standard of intoxication is even left within the discretion of law enforcement officers, and requires no minimum intoxication level (BAC). If officers have probable cause to believe that someone is intoxicated, they can can arrest the person.
What the new law attempted to do was to add a “public endangerment” clause to the necessary elements a prosecutor would have to show in court to justify an arrest. What this would have done is to limit the means by which officers could make arrests under this law, and give them less discretion, effectively eliminating or limiting frivolous arrests for those that do not pose an immediate threat to themselves or the community. Unfortunately, however, the law did not pass. I would encourage you, and all interested to contact their legislators. This fight is not yet over.