Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:And the kids? the schools? No fault anywhere else?
It is illegal for kids to drink before they are 21. Those laws are thoroughly evaluated, and have saved thousands of lives. You can make it all sound as harmless as you want. But the police are enforcing a law that matters. Remember when that boy was let go with a warning by police a few years back, and he died walking home (drowned, I believe in a small stream...or died from hypothermia). They were crucified for not doing more. The point is, it is not safe to walk around by yourself when you are drunk. If you have taught your kids that such laws came about to line the pockets of small town cops, you have done them a disservice.
OP here. You are absolutely right, and I am actually grateful that they didn’t leave my son to just wander around by himself. However, surely they could have taken him the station, allowed him to sober up, read him the riot act, and given him a citation or warning? Especially as he has nothing else on his record - this is his first offense. It seems like throwing a class 1 and class 4 misdemeanor at him was excessive, to say the least. That will be permanently on his record if it is not expunged, and even then will show up on a security clearance investigation. And that’s even if he’s able to get it dismissed and/or expunged in the first place - by paying an expensive attorney, no less.
I completely agree that he could have been hurt, however for first-time offenders, they could have released him the next day with just a warning. That would have been plenty to ensure he never does this again.
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