Lobo
Prole
Post #20435
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 17
Total Words: 7,104
Average words per post: 417.88
PoliMatch: n/a
|
Posted: Thu 2006-03-23 21:16
|
 |
| Politics: Nihilism |
Country: Denmark |
|
| Texas arresting people in bars for being drunk |
|
| From yahoo.com |
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said on Wednesday.
The first sting operation was conducted recently in a Dallas suburb where agents infiltrated 36 bars and arrested 30 people for public intoxication, said the commission's Carolyn Beck.
Being in a bar does not exempt one from the state laws against public drunkenness, Beck said.
The goal, she said, was to detain drunks before they leave a bar and go do something dangerous like drive a car.
"We feel that the only way we're going to get at the drunk driving problem and the problem of people hurting each other while drunk is by crackdowns like this," she said.
"There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when they're intoxicated, other than get behind the wheel of a car," Beck said. "People walk out into traffic and get run over, people jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss."
She said the sting operations would continue throughout the state.
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Big Brother
Administrator
Post #20488
Joined: 14 Feb 2004
Posts: 2861
Total Words: 1,133,054
Average words per post: 396.03
PoliMatch: n/a
   
  
|
|
Posted: Sat 2006-03-25 00:01
|
|
| Politics: Libertarian-Syndicalist |
Country: American Empire |
|
| Re: Texas arresting people in bars for being drunk |
|
The question here is, what level of intoxication qualifies as "public drunkenness"? Is it the same level as for driving a car, 0.08%? Those DUI laws were written to prevent drunk driving -- not getting drunk.... right?
WRONG....
| From tabc.state.tx.us |
Myths About Public Intoxication
- A person can’t be arrested in a bar or nightclub for public intoxication. Yes they can.
- If a person is arrested for public intoxication, the officer has to offer them either a breath or blood test to determine their level of intoxication. No they do not. Agents may conduct routine field sobriety tests, but breath or blood samples are not required.
- Just because a person has a designated driver, it’s okay to become intoxicated. No it’s not. Being intoxicated to the point of presenting a danger to yourself or others is grounds for arrest.
Some Facts About Public Intoxication And Nightclubs
Many people do not understand how they can be arrested when they are inside a bar or a private club. Chapter 49.02 of the Texas Penal Code states: "A person commits an offense if the person appears in a public place while intoxicated to the degree that the person may endanger the person or another." Any location permitted to sell or serve alcoholic beverages is a public place.
People also confuse public intoxication with having a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or higher, which is the legal limit for driving in Texas. But an individual’s BAC is only half the story. Chapter 49.01(2)(a) of the Penal Code defines public intoxication as "not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance into the body; OR (b) having an alcohol concentration of .08 or more."
Alcohol affects different people in different ways. Just two or three drinks can cause some people to act in ways that they normally would not. Loud or slurred speech, exaggerated movements and unsteady balance are the most common symptoms exhibited. These are some of the things that law enforcement officials look for when dealing with individual suspected of being intoxicated. If an agent can articulate that a person does not have the normal use of mental or physical faculties, due to alcohol or drug consumption, then the agent can arrest that person for public intoxication.
|
Those sneaky son's-a-bitches!! Back when they lowered the legal limit from 0.1% to 0.08%, they said they were doing it to help fight drunk drivers. But now it seems the priorities have changed. Now, instead of using this limit to keep people from drinking and driving, they're trying to use it to keep people from drinking at all!
Most people can hit that 0.08 limit after only 3 or drinks. A lot of bars have a "two drink minimum". But now, what the government has done, in effect, is change that “two drink minimum” to a “three drink maximum". They're pretty much trying to sneak alcohol prohibition back in right under our noses.
Of course, they try to pretend that this is the way it has always been. And they are right -- these laws have been on the books for some time. But nobody really ever considered enforcing these laws in a bar before. What the hell was the point of all those PSA's imploring people to get a "designated driver" if people who "tie one on" can still get arrested anyway? I suppose the penalties for drunk driving are more severe for than for public intoxication, but I don't think that's going to matter much when the next wedding your planning to attend gets canceled because the entire wedding party got arrested the night before because they drank a couple bottles of champagne.
And I suppose that this means that bachelor parties are a thing of the past as well. And that really bums me out. There was nothing more fun than getting shit-faced with 10 of your closest friends in the back of a rented school bus. But now, those sorts of shenanigans will be "against the law".
It's fairly ironic. Marijuana prohibition is starting to unravel, but now it seems that alcohol prohibition is gearing up to make a comeback. Who would've thunk it.
_________________
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." - Mahatma Gandhi
"It is often argued that religion is valuable because it makes men good, but even if this were true it would not be a proof that religion is true. That would be an extension of pragmatism beyond endurance. Santa Claus makes children good in precisely the same way, and yet no one would argue seriously that the fact proves his existence. The defense of religion is full of such logical imbecilities." - H. L. Mencken
"The Aim of an Argument ... should not be victory, but progress." - Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)
http://freeme.tv |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mephis Ladder
Minister of Truth
Post #20496
Joined: 09 Aug 2005
Posts: 6200
Total Words: 1,250,567
Average words per post: 201.7
PoliMatch: n/a
 
    
|
|
Posted: Sat 2006-03-25 06:39
|
|
| Politics: Communist |
Country: Titan |
|
| Re: Texas arresting people in bars for being drunk |
|
| Big Brother wrote: |
The question here is, what level of intoxication qualifies as "public drunkenness"? Is it the same level as for driving a car, 0.08%? Those DUI laws were written to prevent drunk driving -- not getting drunk.... right?
WRONG....
| From tabc.state.tx.us |
Myths About Public Intoxication
- A person can’t be arrested in a bar or nightclub for public intoxication. Yes they can.
- If a person is arrested for public intoxication, the officer has to offer them either a breath or blood test to determine their level of intoxication. No they do not. Agents may conduct routine field sobriety tests, but breath or blood samples are not required.
- Just because a person has a designated driver, it’s okay to become intoxicated. No it’s not. Being intoxicated to the point of presenting a danger to yourself or others is grounds for arrest.
Some Facts About Public Intoxication And Nightclubs
Many people do not understand how they can be arrested when they are inside a bar or a private club. Chapter 49.02 of the Texas Penal Code states: "A person commits an offense if the person appears in a public place while intoxicated to the degree that the person may endanger the person or another." Any location permitted to sell or serve alcoholic beverages is a public place.
People also confuse public intoxication with having a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or higher, which is the legal limit for driving in Texas. But an individual’s BAC is only half the story. Chapter 49.01(2)(a) of the Penal Code defines public intoxication as "not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance into the body; OR (b) having an alcohol concentration of .08 or more."
Alcohol affects different people in different ways. Just two or three drinks can cause some people to act in ways that they normally would not. Loud or slurred speech, exaggerated movements and unsteady balance are the most common symptoms exhibited. These are some of the things that law enforcement officials look for when dealing with individual suspected of being intoxicated. If an agent can articulate that a person does not have the normal use of mental or physical faculties, due to alcohol or drug consumption, then the agent can arrest that person for public intoxication.
|
Those sneaky son's-a-bitches!! Back when they lowered the legal limit from 0.1% to 0.08%, they said they were doing it to help fight drunk drivers. But now it seems the priorities have changed. Now, instead of using this limit to keep people from drinking and driving, they're trying to use it to keep people from drinking at all!
Most people can hit that 0.08 limit after only 3 or drinks. A lot of bars have a "two drink minimum". But now, what the government has done, in effect, is change that “two drink minimum” to a “three drink maximum". They're pretty much trying to sneak alcohol prohibition back in right under our noses.
Of course, they try to pretend that this is the way it has always been. And they are right -- these laws have been on the books for some time. But nobody really ever considered enforcing these laws in a bar before. What the hell was the point of all those PSA's imploring people to get a "designated driver" if people who "tie one on" can still get arrested anyway? I suppose the penalties for drunk driving are more severe for than for public intoxication, but I don't think that's going to matter much when the next wedding your planning to attend gets canceled because the entire wedding party got arrested the night before because they drank a couple bottles of champagne.
And I suppose that this means that bachelor parties are a thing of the past as well. And that really bums me out. There was nothing more fun than getting shit-faced with 10 of your closest friends in the back of a rented school bus. But now, those sorts of shenanigans will be "against the law".
It's fairly ironic. Marijuana prohibition is starting to unravel, but now it seems that alcohol prohibition is gearing up to make a comeback. Who would've thunk it. |
I agree, it is ironic. At least Big Brother hasn't banned alcohol in our own private homes.
Still, none of this makes any sense. People GO TO BARS to DRINK, and now the government is arresting people for drinking in bars? As I said before, logically, shouldn't the government then have to ban bars altogether, if it works by logic?
For example: The government outlaws gluttony. Therefore, wouldn't PUBLIC restaurants be banned, because people eat?
Even if the state of Texas HAS made a legal alcohol limit, how the fuck does a bar patron know when he's had enough? There's no magical bell in his head saying, "Oh, don't drink that, you're already at 0.08%!", and even if there's a set limit on the number of drinks, you can't quite do the math while drinking... after all, beer, wine, spirits, hard liquor all have different alcohol consistencies. How would a person keep track of it?
God. It's almost as if the government created a scenario in order to arrest people for no reason... 
_________________
When male Swedish English teachers with small penises harass others on the internet, it means they've truly succeeded in life.
Carl really turned onto the idea of pedophilia when underage Newspeakers were around. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Wraith
Outer Party
Post #20499
Joined: 20 Nov 2005
Posts: 219
Total Words: 17,562
Average words per post: 80.19
PoliMatch: n/a
|
|
Posted: Sat 2006-03-25 06:57
|
|
| Politics: Libertarian |
Country: Fascist States of America |
|
| |
|
It's all about the money. Take this case... I got a ticket for driving with no insurance, paid it, then now that I have enough money to get insurance, I find out my license has been suspended until I pay a $250 surcharge... for the next three years. The reason I didn't have insurance in the first place was I didn't have the funds.
So fuck Texas. They can take their $750 "surcharge" along with their new "raiding the bars" scheme and shove it up their ass.
_________________
"We just report the news, we don't make it up. That's the government's job."
-British Television Network staff, V for Vendetta |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Dys
Ignorant Prole
Post #20979
Joined: 23 Feb 2006
Posts: 2
Total Words: 288
Average words per post: 144
PoliMatch: n/a
|
|
Posted: Thu 2006-03-30 05:23
|
|
|
Country: United States |
|
| |
|
Fucking ridiculous. The amount of red tape, length and weird-ass lingo that all laws now engulf themselves in has made it next to impossible for the average Joe to know the letter of the law, especially in cases like this where it is not intuitive; it must be relayed to him through proper advertisement and awareness programs. You can't spend countless decades not enforcing a law which is totally against common sense and then suddenly begin, saying the perpetrators should have seen it coming.
Of course, the previous paragraph was written under the assumption that the law was helpful or useful in the first place. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Big Brother
Administrator
Post #21174
Joined: 14 Feb 2004
Posts: 2861
Total Words: 1,133,054
Average words per post: 396.03
PoliMatch: n/a
|
|
Posted: Sat 2006-04-01 09:52
|
|
| Politics: Libertarian-Syndicalist |
Country: American Empire |
|
| |
|
| Loki wrote: |
Even if the state of Texas HAS made a legal alcohol limit, how the fuck does a bar patron know when he's had enough? There's no magical bell in his head saying, "Oh, don't drink that, you're already at 0.08%!", and even if there's a set limit on the number of drinks, you can't quite do the math while drinking... after all, beer, wine, spirits, hard liquor all have different alcohol consistencies. How would a person keep track of it?
|
If you don't know what your limit is, I suggest that you use a drink wheel to figure it out before a cop figures it out for you. (Trust me, I know.... lawyers aren't cheap!)
According to the wheel, somebody my weight has to drink 6 drinks in one hour to be legally drunk. The body normally removes one drink's worth of alcohol per hour. So what this means is that I can drink 5 drinks in 1 hour, 6 drinks in 2 hours, 7 drinks in 3 hours, and so on...
Do yourself a favor and click the link above to learn your limit. You'll thank me later.
| Wraith wrote: |
It's all about the money. Take this case... I got a ticket for driving with no insurance, paid it, then now that I have enough money to get insurance, I find out my license has been suspended until I pay a $250 surcharge... for the next three years. The reason I didn't have insurance in the first place was I didn't have the funds.
So fuck Texas. They can take their $750 "surcharge" along with their new "raiding the bars" scheme and shove it up their ass. |
True that. I've probably had over 40 tickets in my lifetime, and at no time did I get the feeling that traffic laws had anything at all to do with "public safety". I always got the feeling that the officer who pulled me over had more in common with a tax collector than a protector of the peace.
_________________
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." - Mahatma Gandhi
"It is often argued that religion is valuable because it makes men good, but even if this were true it would not be a proof that religion is true. That would be an extension of pragmatism beyond endurance. Santa Claus makes children good in precisely the same way, and yet no one would argue seriously that the fact proves his existence. The defense of religion is full of such logical imbecilities." - H. L. Mencken
"The Aim of an Argument ... should not be victory, but progress." - Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)
http://freeme.tv |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
steamer
Filthy Animal
Post #21890
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 1
Total Words: 120
Average words per post: 120
PoliMatch: n/a
|
|
Posted: Wed 2006-04-12 11:45
|
|
| Politics: Anarcho-capitalist |
Country: Weimar Republic |
|
| Signet Book Cover |
|
I don't know if you have seen this one, but I liked it. See the 23 Mar post:
http://sightspeed.blogspot.com/
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RastaSista
Minister of Peace
Post #22003
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 1298
Total Words: 158,282
Average words per post: 121.94
PoliMatch: n/a
 
|
|
Posted: Fri 2006-04-14 01:49
|
|
| Politics: Green |
Country: Germany |
|
| |
|
Once again politicians should do it like every good mum would. Keep an average level of what's legal and what's not just like we do. I dont know if that is much better, but what Texas is trying wont work out for them.
If you ban something it gets really interesting ! (Atleast for me...) I only have to look at our swedish somehow-neighbours. Alcohol is really expensive there. So they go on fairies and come here just to buy alcohol because it's cheaper here. I know someone on the internet who comes atleast 4 times a year I'd say. The more expensive it gets the more likely people will be to steal some or get it on another way. And then, as you are a free country ( ring ring.. yes FREE) it should be your right to get as shitfaced as you want. What will happen when they go to McDonald's and tell people they eat too much? If not alcohol, then other drugs... that could end up even worse. They should really think twice before they do something like this. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JD-sama
Minister of Truth
Post #22011
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 2035
Total Words: 611,258
Average words per post: 300.37
PoliMatch: n/a
  
 
|
|
Posted: Fri 2006-04-14 02:09
|
|
| Politics: Communist |
Country: United Kingdom |
|
| |
|
| RastaSista wrote: |
| So they go on fairies and come here just to buy alcohol because it's cheaper here. |
No they only travel on fairies after they have alcohol , on the way there its strictly ferries ^^.
Sorry that just made me laugh.
There is much the same affair with the english travelling to france.
_________________
"I wanted to know the world that was outside of the well.
So I tried hard to get out from the bottom of the well.
I wanted to know the world that was outside of the well.
So I climbed up numerous of times despite falling down over and over again.
But then I realized it.
The higher and higher I climb, the pain increases when I fall down again.
When my interest in the world outside of the well began to equal the amount of pain,
That was when I finally realized the meaning of the story to Der Froschkönig."
-Frederica Bernkastel |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JD-sama
Minister of Truth
Post #22032
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 2035
Total Words: 611,258
Average words per post: 300.37
PoliMatch: n/a
|
|
Posted: Fri 2006-04-14 02:55
|
|
| Politics: Communist |
Country: United Kingdom |
|
| |
|
| Loki wrote: |
Or maybe they bring their fairy bitches along. ^^ (Sorry, but my friend pointed out I've picked up your '^^' habit, JD) |
Darn not only did you beat me to the submit button you've stolen my smily ... the hordes of anime emoticon minions will not be pleased.
To be honest though I'm just plain lazy ^^ is amazingly quick to type compared to     not to mention the anime smiley looks the coolest ^_^.
_________________
"I wanted to know the world that was outside of the well.
So I tried hard to get out from the bottom of the well.
I wanted to know the world that was outside of the well.
So I climbed up numerous of times despite falling down over and over again.
But then I realized it.
The higher and higher I climb, the pain increases when I fall down again.
When my interest in the world outside of the well began to equal the amount of pain,
That was when I finally realized the meaning of the story to Der Froschkönig."
-Frederica Bernkastel |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RastaSista
Minister of Peace
Post #22044
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 1298
Total Words: 158,282
Average words per post: 121.94
PoliMatch: n/a
|
|
Posted: Fri 2006-04-14 03:29
|
|
| Politics: Green |
Country: Germany |
|
| |
|
Oh come on it must have been like 4 am in the morning when I typed this LOL ...  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Wraith
Outer Party
Post #22100
Joined: 20 Nov 2005
Posts: 219
Total Words: 17,562
Average words per post: 80.19
PoliMatch: n/a
|
|
Posted: Sat 2006-04-15 20:19
|
|
| Politics: Libertarian |
Country: Fascist States of America |
|
| |
|
| RastaSista wrote: |
| What will happen when they go to McDonald's and tell people they eat too much? If not alcohol, then other drugs... that could end up even worse. They should really think twice before they do something like this. |
They already did... McDonalds food has been shrinking. Which is yet another reason why Burger King (aka WhopperLand) is better...
_________________
"We just report the news, we don't make it up. That's the government's job."
-British Television Network staff, V for Vendetta |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RastaSista
Minister of Peace
Post #22105
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 1298
Total Words: 158,282
Average words per post: 121.94
PoliMatch: n/a
|
|
Posted: Sat 2006-04-15 23:12
|
|
| Politics: Green |
Country: Germany |
|
| |
|
Ah you mean that thing about supersize me , haha, well ok that is true.
I mean, if someone wants to eat more than a large on , then they could get two of them... so what's the use of all this??? You can't make someone stop drinking just by arresting him or her for it, and you can't make someone eat less just by changing what's on the list
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Wraith
Outer Party
Post #22106
Joined: 20 Nov 2005
Posts: 219
Total Words: 17,562
Average words per post: 80.19
PoliMatch: n/a
|
|
Posted: Sat 2006-04-15 23:23
|
|
| Politics: Libertarian |
Country: Fascist States of America |
|
| |
|
| RastaSista wrote: |
Ah you mean that thing about supersize me , haha, well ok that is true.
I mean, if someone wants to eat more than a large on , then they could get two of them... so what's the use of all this??? You can't make someone stop drinking just by arresting him or her for it, and you can't make someone eat less just by changing what's on the list
|
No, but you can make more money off them. I wonder if bar profits will decline enough for the bars to protest. Unlike bars, McDonalds won't have any reason to complain. I think that film was one of the best things to happens to McDonald's owners. They get to make their food smaller (they "care" about your weight now) while keeping the same price. (Double profits for the owners plus the PR benefit)
_________________
"We just report the news, we don't make it up. That's the government's job."
-British Television Network staff, V for Vendetta |
|
| Back to top |
| | 
Search
Log in
FAQ
Usergroups
Memberlist
World War V
Medals
PoliMatch
Stats
