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Texas halts arrests of drunks in bars
- Thread starter vniow
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Can we pre-emptively sterilize the population of Texas since some of them may be likely to breed ignorant children who would eventually become legislators? 
mkrishnan said:Can we pre-emptively sterilize the population of Texas since some of them may be likely to breed ignorant children who would eventually become legislators?
That's rich, coming from someone in a state where quite a few number of people couldn't even use a ballot.
mkrishnan said:Can we pre-emptively sterilize the population of Texas since some of them may be likely to breed ignorant children who would eventually become legislators?
Wait a minute there....
some of us are trying to work from the inside by raising little Democrats (like the one in my avatar) in TX to make it back into a Blue state. If we could be turned we'd be a powerful ally.......
bitfactory said:
Tell me about it... I moved here from Detroit two years ago to go to graduate school. This wasn't exactly the geographic region I wanted to wind up in. But it is a good program, FWIW.
emw said:
Seconded.
Harassing & arresting drunks inside (potentially) crowded establishments (in a state that ALLOWS concealed weapons) strikes me as cowboyish and stupid.
Wait until they're outside and nab them there.
why is it o.k. to go into a bar and arrest somebody for drinking a beer. the guy hasn't committed any crime. that means everybody can be arrested any time because some cop thinks he might commit a crime in the future.
wait in the parking lot until they try to start their car.
wait in the parking lot until they try to start their car.
andiwm2003 said:why is it o.k. to go into a bar and arrest somebody for drinking a beer. the guy hasn't committed any crime. that means everybody can be arrested any time because some cop thinks he might commit a crime in the future.
wait in the parking lot until they try to start their car.
Agreed.
Going to the bar and arresting people for being drunk is like going to the mall and arresting people for shopping.
andiwm2003 said:why is it o.k. to go into a bar and arrest somebody for drinking a beer. the guy hasn't committed any crime. that means everybody can be arrested any time because some cop thinks he might commit a crime in the future.
Except that most towns/states have "drunk in public" laws on the books. They cannot arrest someone simply nased on the possibility of the drunk driving. Particularly since they haven't been legally declared drunk. Not even in Texas.
But they CAN arrest you for being drunk in public! I think that article is missing crucial information.
^^ true, but when bars/taverns/etc have been "unspokenly" excluded from that list for so long, why attempt to go back on it now?
It's a lot easier to catch them in a bar (where drunks tend to congregate) than to try to find them on the road, among all the teetotalers.
Fascinating to see the limits of public drunkenness laws.
Fascinating to see the limits of public drunkenness laws.
It makes sense to go after them in the bars - better to get them off the road before they get on the road and hurt someone.
BUT
It makes sense to wait until they have begun driving, especially if the cop saw them appear to be intoxicated as they came out of the bar. That way you already have an excuse - public intoxication - and you couldn't get them until they started to drive. It gets drunks who are going to drive and not the ones who being a designated driver/get a cab, and gets them off the streets longer.
I would love to know why people are trying to drag politics into this. It makes sense for Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Libertarians, and everybody else. Well, everybody except for drunk drivers.
BUT
It makes sense to wait until they have begun driving, especially if the cop saw them appear to be intoxicated as they came out of the bar. That way you already have an excuse - public intoxication - and you couldn't get them until they started to drive. It gets drunks who are going to drive and not the ones who being a designated driver/get a cab, and gets them off the streets longer.
I would love to know why people are trying to drag politics into this. It makes sense for Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Libertarians, and everybody else. Well, everybody except for drunk drivers.
If the Police state is so hard up to fill the prisons and pay for the police state they why dont they just start knocking on doors and robbing folks. We are almost there, a neocon govt mated to the patriot act and the removal of most our libertys and freedoms has made all this possible. The people are the enemy and everything the police state does is right even when wrong.
Dont Hurt Me said:
AMEN! This is getting out of control... whats next? Shall i install a gps system in my car that monitors my speed and wont allow me to go over the allotted speed limit? How about cameras in all the rooms of my house so uncle sam can monitor my every move to make sure im not doing anything illegal in MY OWN HOME!
Thanks George... and your brother jeb isnt much better... 
This from a state that back in the late 80's (when I lived in the DFW area) allowed open containers of alcohol in a car; as long as the driver wasn't drinking. Or the city of Irving, the home to the Cowboys NFL stadium, which was a "dry" city allowed IIRC up to 12 cans of beer per a person to be carried in coolers to an NFL game. Yet they defeated a measure to allow limited alcohol sales just in the stadium.
Just irks me when the government goes after easy targets, instead of focusing in on major issues. I am sure that the highways in Texas are filled with those doing 15mph+ over the posted. Or the increasing number of car thefts, or the increase in violent crimes.
I am not saying that there is not an issue with people being over intoxicated in bars. But they also need equal enforcement of the laws on the books that hold liable bars that continue to serve the intoxicated.
Just irks me when the government goes after easy targets, instead of focusing in on major issues. I am sure that the highways in Texas are filled with those doing 15mph+ over the posted. Or the increasing number of car thefts, or the increase in violent crimes.
I am not saying that there is not an issue with people being over intoxicated in bars. But they also need equal enforcement of the laws on the books that hold liable bars that continue to serve the intoxicated.
william sire
macrumors regular
What is this war really about ? Bringing an end to drunk driving ? Where I live the war on drunk drivivng has only produced more and more house parties where people get blind drunk. So drunk that alcohol is still in there system when they wake up to drive home in the morning. So now the roads are full of drunk drivers all hours day and night and you have no idea where they are coming from.
I have long suggested that if there were less restrictions on private investors, the people of the communities where social life has a strong economic base would produce affordable transportation services. This would deminish the number of people on the road drinking and driving in greater numbers than the police action. Before you ask, I am not the only person who has thought of this and it has been repeatedly proposed here ( my home ) for at least 20 years. Each time the local authorites said "no". I wasn't around or aware of the proposals at the time so I don't have an explanation as to why.
I have long suggested that if there were less restrictions on private investors, the people of the communities where social life has a strong economic base would produce affordable transportation services. This would deminish the number of people on the road drinking and driving in greater numbers than the police action. Before you ask, I am not the only person who has thought of this and it has been repeatedly proposed here ( my home ) for at least 20 years. Each time the local authorites said "no". I wasn't around or aware of the proposals at the time so I don't have an explanation as to why.
Here's how far things have come in Texas.
When I was growing up in Austin, the open container law in cars was still in effect: the drink in question had to be "out of easy reach" of the driver,i.e. the passenger side cup-holder. There was a drive-through liquor store in town that sold mixed drinks, no joke. You could get margaritas, pina coladas, whatever, and they would be put into regular styrofoam cups with straws.
Here's the catch: they would leave a little bit of paper on the straw, so it wasn't technically an 'open container' when it was sold. What you did with it in the car was I guess your own business. Unbelievable.
When I was growing up in Austin, the open container law in cars was still in effect: the drink in question had to be "out of easy reach" of the driver,i.e. the passenger side cup-holder. There was a drive-through liquor store in town that sold mixed drinks, no joke. You could get margaritas, pina coladas, whatever, and they would be put into regular styrofoam cups with straws.
Here's the catch: they would leave a little bit of paper on the straw, so it wasn't technically an 'open container' when it was sold. What you did with it in the car was I guess your own business. Unbelievable.
It's not. This isn't about drunk driving, it's about public drunkenness. Except, I believe, since the person drinking at the bar is a patron, it might actually count as private property. Which is how they can eject you if you cause trouble, it's private property. If someone gets drunk at a bar, passes out, and their friend drives them home, no crime is committed. If they sober up after some coffee, even better. Even if they go outside, unless they plan to drive or cause some trouble (like making too much noise or disturbing traffic or threatening people), no crime is committed.andiwm2003 said:
So they are arresting people before they actually commit a crime, and may not even commit one, so no, in fact, it is not ok.