Don't get drunk in a Texas bar

[cynatnite]

This morning on the Today show they did a piece about what happens if you get drunk in a bar in Texas. You get arrested. It doesn't matter if someone is the designated driver or if you've seen to your own way of getting home safely.

A woman, a bartender and a few others were arrested in a bar in a hotel. It didn't matter that all the customers had to do was walk to their rooms. They were arrested.

This is just plain stupid. Why doesn't the state make sure people get home safely rather than arresting them for being drunk?

Here in E. TN, the bars and restaurants will pay for cab fare to make sure people get home safely. They make a point in advertising it on TV and radio. They'll go out of their way...they don't need to arrest people for being drunk as long as they aren't hurting anyone else or driving.

Does common sense exist in Texas?

[400Years]

1. TABC if full of nazi dickheads

and this is all about revenue generation

[napi21]

2. To answer your question...NO! There is NO common sense in TX!

I still haven't heard just what criteria the police are using to determine when to arrest people in the Tx. bars. Do they do breathalizer tests in the bar? Do they just watch and snag you if you stagger?

Whose idea was this anyway?

I used to live in Tx. and you can bet your....the Texans I knew aren't going to put up with this shit! They're against driving drunk as much or more than anyone else, but biy, they don't like THIS kind of interference in their personal lives!!!!

[TomInTib]

9. I was arrested for buying someone a drink...

and I wasn't even drinking.

TABC are some real doozies.

[napi21]

13. What in the world did they charge you with?

Unless you were buying a drink for a minor, what did they say you did?

BTW, CNN just interviewed someone from the TABC and asked are they really allowed to do this? The response was, every state is permitted to establish their own methods of controling the use of alcohol. Texas has decided this is one way they can cut down on the DIU's, since it has the highest drunk driving rate of all 50 states!

[cynatnite]

16. This sure isn't going to solve the problem though...

arresting people who aren't even driving will have no impact.

They think by using these kinds of tactics will somehow make it better.

[TomInTib]

22. Contributing to a public menace (I think) or to public intoxication

They arrested about 20 people in a bar in Spring, Texas.

Some were plastered, some stone sober.
I had just walked in and spotted two women I knew. So I bought them a round (that's what a truly chivalrous guy does, isn't it?). One of them was rather intoxicated and turned away from a guy who was chatting her up and she started talking to me. Guess who was TABC?
You got it the first time.
All of a sudden the guy tells me I'm under arrest and HANDCUFFS me.
There were 5 TABC guys in the bar and they sprung into action, locking the door and telling everyone to put their hands on their head.
It reminded me of a DEA raid.
They were all screaming and running around, sidearms drawn.
I never saw a judge but paid a 55 (I think) dollar "fine" which I'll just bet they pocketed.

Found out later that most of those asshats cannot qualify for "real" Law Enforcement and they join TABC so they can wear a badge and carry a gun.

[cynatnite]

24. I'm finding very litle info on TABC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Alcoholic_Beverage_Commission

Wikipedia has nothing except their official website. I would like to find something that goes into greater detail about them that's not so biased.

I sure would like to learn more about this group. It sounds very corrupt.

[TomInTib]

30. Not surprising...

They are just thugs.

TABC operates sans warrants.
They do not even use breathalyzers when making arrests. Since they are "trained experts" it's usually your word against theirs.

I do not know of a single person who has had any kind of positve experience wih TABC besides being positively screwed.

[Rocknrule]

3. Look on the bright side - with this law, it'll be easier to get * arrested

[SammyWinstonJack]

29. He drinks on his pig farm. The bush twins might be in trouble with this

law, though. :evilgrin:

[Clovis Sangrail]

4. California has a similar law

it's use isn't incredibly common, but it happens

[WiseButAngrySara]

5. Didn't seem to apply to the B* twins. ...n/t

[FlaGranny]

6. What does this mean

to the Bush kids?

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. Don't go to texas at all.

[Uncle Joe]

8. Can't they just tell the sheriff or police to come back the next day?

Or does that only work if they shoot someone in the bar?

[ceile]

10. Here in TX we're just now hearing about it too

They can arrest you for being loud, drawing attention to yourself, bumping into someone....anything you can possibly think of.
I haven't heard anything about breathalizers being used, just on the spot judgement by the officer. This is going to cut into bar profits, so expect an organized outcry from owners (at least in Austin anyways) as well as civil liberties advocates.

[cynatnite]

12. Maybe TX is an experiment in fascism

The repubs want to see how much the public will take before applying it to the rest of the country.

[TX-RAT]

19. This has been the law in TX, for many years.

Usually it's handled in a different way, and not by the feds. Usually when officers are doing a walk through, and they spot someone who's obviously intoxicated. They either have someone drive them home, or have them make arrangements for a cab. If the person is abusive, disruptive, or wants to argue with the officers, then they usually get a little cell time until they sober up. I've never seen this done on such a large scale. I'm a little curious if this was joint operation between BATF and local law-enforcement or if it was BATF only?

[Bridget Burke]

31. Arresting Texans for being loud & drawing attention to ourselves?

Hey--we do that when we're sober!

[SaveElmer]

11. Alot of places have these laws...not usually enforced...

They tried it here in Fairfax, VA a couple years ago...after howls of complaint from restaurant and bar owners they stopped!!!

[sui generis]

14. actually the arrestees will fight and win - this is a stunt

Unless a sobriety test was administered or a blood alcohol sample taken, it's all subjective. Anyway there is a blood legal limit for driving, not for public intox. Also, TABC has issued guidelines in the past for handling intox, and it doesn't involve arresting bar patrons unless they are a nuisance or an immediate danger, so they've already established that these arrests are invalid. It's a stunt.

All they need is contrary witnesses saying they weren't drunk.

The TABC in Texas really is the gestapo by the way. I've already sent them an email earlier today telling them where I'll be this afternoon and what I'll be wearing and that I intend to get slightly intoxicated in public, and dared them to do something about it.

What's the REAL issue: TABC I'm calling you fuckers out.

Somebody didn't pay their bribes. Every bar that has TABC walk in will suffer reduced sales and business, and TABC knows it. They're doing it to harm only certain bar owners, and not for public safety.

If any enterprising person would like to FOIA their records for this activity, this could get interesting in a hurry.

[napi21]

18. Hmmm, I never thought about them targeting certain bars but not all!

There sure are way too many for those guys to go after them all, and this sure could be a way to punish the ones they're pi**ed at.

BTW, I agree with you this would never stand up in court. I posted that several days ago when I first read about this insanity. All that needs to happen is for ONE financially comfortable person to get arrested, especially if they were a hotel guest not going to go near a car! Take this stupid thing all the way to the Tx. Supreme Court!

[TomInTib]

23. Aww, man, don't do that. I have gone up against TABC..

and it is not worth it.

Those bastards are ruthless dumbasses and will throw you in jail overnight even if they know you will get off.

It will cost you a bunch of money and you will get to spend the night in one of the luxury suites at the Lew Sterrett Lodge.

Let me know how it works out.

[sui generis]

33. I intend to be perfectly sober, actually.

We've encountered those assholes before - just not with a hidden camera.

[TomInTib]

34. Do not buy a drink for ANYONE in the bar.

I was arrested for doing that very thing and I hadn't had a drop to drink.

If you are going to film them, stay ought of their way so you don't get hit with an obstruction charge.
Those bastards are vicious pencil-necks.

The reason they are TABC is because they cannot qualify for any other Texas Law Enforcement agency and join up so they can wear a badge and carry a gun.

[leftofthedial]

15. "Does common sense exist in Texas?"

judging by their recent political past, I'd say clearly not.

judging by Houston, I'd say clearly not.

but king george has slipped below 50% approval in Texas, so maybe there's hope.

arresting drunk people in bars.

willie sutton robbed banks because that's where the money was . . . :shrug:

[CrispyQ]

17. Just another opportunity for the man

to get you under the scope & see what way they can fuck with you.

[cynatnite]

20. Anyone know what the legal limit is for public intoxication?

From what's been said in this thread, they aren't using breathalysers so they use their own subjective judgment to determine if someone is drunk.

Hell, I'm a lousy dancer, but if I'm drinking I do it anyway. That would give them cause to arrest me.

One thing that was mentioned by a lawyer on the Today show was that bars are a public place which is why they can arrest people for public drunkenness.

[babylonsister]

21. I wonder how the arresting cops feel about this. They too

on occasion enjoy a drink or two in a bar...

[Old Smokey]

25. Its all about revenue

Nothing more. Great way to drum up some money from the pockets of working people.... Then they use the excuse of protecting the public to jusify it. I picked a great month to quit drinking.

[D_Master]

26. According to RW radio

This is another example of the libral government intruding in the lives of ordinary Americans. In a way I think they're right, but I don't necessarily think it's the liberals that are doing this.

[Bridget Burke]

32. Yeah, right. The "liberal" government in Texas.

There ARE quite a few liberals here. But not very many in the government.

And damn few in the TABC.

[SammyWinstonJack]

27. Way to promote tourism in this state! Morans! This in a state where

it's (don't know if it still is) legal for a parent of an underage kid, to order an alcoholic beverage and serve it to them, with the establishment's permission. There some common sense for ya. :crazy:

[sendero]

28. The whole concept of "public intoxication"..

... is a total joke, because the officer doesn't have to have any proof at all of intoxication. If an officer decides you are intoxicated, you are intoxicated. It's total bullshit, and as far as I know, most state have similar statutes.

[sui generis]

35. well actually if they see you order and drink five vodkas in a row

in thirty minutes they can make some assumptions from the volume of alcohol ingested, but if they can't get the bartender to back them up at a cash bar or other witnesses say you weren't drunk at all or hadn't been drinking and that happens often enough they'll be in quite a pickle, especially if it's true.

I really think it's harrassing the bars more than the patrons though . . .

[sendero]

37. My point is not..

... that there is no criteria by which a reasonable person could decide you are intoxicated, my point is that it is left entirely up to the officer. I don't see why anyone would object to a breathalyzer as a minimum requirement to back up the officer's opinion.

I say this as a person who spent a night in jail for "public intoxication", and I was not intoxicated. A couple of hours before, yes :)

The officer did a "field sobriety test" where he intentionally got the result he already had his mind made up on. It was a eye-opener for me. My complaint is simply that we generally require something more than a person's opinion to decide something like that. And since a breathalyzer is a piece of equipment that every officer should have at his disposal, I see no reason why they should not have to use it.

Fact is, "public intoxication" as currently implemented, allows a LEC to arrest you for basically no reason, since it is based on nothing more than his opinion. I don't like laws like that.

[Swamp Rat]

36. Yeah, instead come to New Orleans and get drunk 24/7!

Come to New Orleans and have a great time without being hassled! Our food and music is better anyway. :D