Town Topics, June 2, 2005 Legal Forum:
"Underage Drinking Liability "
by Kevin P. McManimon, Esq.Reprinted with permision of the Town Topics.
As the summer approaches and the school year ends, teenagers often find themselves with time on their hands, money in their pockets and a desire to consume alcoholic beverages. This triggers significant concerns, including criminal and civil liability for minors who consume alcohol, and criminal and civil liability for adults who provide alcohol, or a place to consume alcohol, to minors.
In New Jersey, no person under the age of twenty-one may possess or consume alcoholic beverages in a public place, a school or a motor vehicle. Moreover, it is unlawful for a person under twenty-one to enter premises licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for the purpose of purchasing alcohol, to actually consume alcohol, to misrepresent his or her age in order to purchase alcohol or to enter such premises to purchase alcohol for another under-aged person. What most people likely do not realize is that parents or legal guardians of offending minors are also notified of any violation and, upon a subsequent violation by a minor, the parent or legal guardian of the offender may also be held criminally responsible.
It is also unlawful to offer or serve alcoholic beverages, or make them available, to a person under the age of twenty-one. Moreover, it is unlawful for a person to make property owned, leased or managed by that person available to another person if alcohol will be made available for consumption by, or will be consumed by, persons who are under twenty-one. Accordingly, if you are considering hosting a party for teenagers, or even making your property available for such a party, and alcoholic beverages will be served, you may expose yourself to criminal liability.
New Jersey law exempts, however, parents or legal guardians of minors if the consumption is for religious reasons, or if the parent or legal guardian of the minor is of legal age, is present and approves of the minor’s consumption of alcohol. Accordingly, parents and guardians may permit minors under their care to consume alcoholic beverages, but the parents or guardians must be present and must be over twenty-one.
It is important to note that these exemptions do not authorize a parent or guardian to permit minors in their care to consume alcohol in public places, in schools or in motor vehicles. Furthermore, these exemptions do not in any manner excuse one from civil liability for the negligent provision of alcohol to minors who subsequently injure themselves or others.
Furthermore, retail establishments that serve alcohol are governed by separate statutory provisions, which make it unlawful to sell alcoholic beverages to a person under the age of twenty-one. The law, however, excuses such conduct where: (1) the purchaser falsely represented his or her age by producing photographic identification; (2) the appearance of the purchaser could lead an ordinary person to believe he or she was of legal age; and (3) the sale was made in good faith and in the reasonable belief that the purchaser was of legal age.
That, however, is only half the battle, for a person who serves or makes alcoholic beverages available to minors may be held civilly liable for injuries caused by a minor to others and/or to themselves. The intricacies of this area of the law are better left for another article, however, one should, at the very least, know that the law treats hosts and licensed retail establishments differently when they serve alcohol to minors than when they serve them to adults.
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