BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1128
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Hall III, Isadore, Chair
AB 1128 (Salas) - As Amended: April 18, 2013
SUBJECT : Alcoholic beverages: underage drinking.
SUMMARY : Creates an alternate misdemeanor-felony (wobbler),
as specified, for any person who furnishes or sells alcohol to a
minor who thereafter causes death or great bodily injury (GBI),
as specified. Specifically, this bill :
1) Provides that a person who by selling to, purchases any
alcoholic beverage for, furnishes, gives, or gives away any
alcoholic beverage to, a person under 21 years of age who
thereafter consumes the alcohol and then causes great bodily
injury or death to himself, herself, or any other person is
guilty of a misdemeanor or felony (wobbler).
2) Any person who violates this statute shall be punished by
either imprisonment in a county jail for a minimum term of six
months not to exceed one year, by a fine of one thousand dollars
($1,000), or by both imprisonment and fine or a felony
punishable by a term of imprisonment in a county jail for 16
months, or two to three years.
3) Provides a retail employee of a licensee shall not be
subject to felony prosecution under this bill for the sale of
any alcoholic beverage to a person under 21 years of age unless
the retail employee knew the person to whom the alcoholic
beverage was sold was under 21 years of age.
EXISTING LAW :
1) States that every person who sells, furnishes, gives, or
causes to be sold, furnished, or given away, any alcoholic
beverage to any person under the age of 21 years is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
2) States that any person who violates existing law by
purchasing any alcoholic beverage for, or furnishing, giving, or
giving away any alcoholic beverage to, a person under the age of
21 years, and the person under the age of 21 years thereafter
consumes the alcohol and thereby proximately causes great bodily
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injury or death to himself, herself, or any other person is
guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person who violates this provision
shall be punished by either imprisonment in a county jail for a
minimum term of six months not to exceed one year, by a fine of
one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both imprisonment and fine.
3) Provides that any on-sale licensee who knowingly permits a
person under the age of 21 years to consume any alcoholic
beverage in the on-sale premises, whether or not the licensee
has knowledge that the person is under the age of 21 years, is
guilty of a misdemeanor.
4) Provides that except as provided by law, any person who
violates existing law by furnishing an alcoholic beverage, or
causing an alcoholic beverage to be furnished, to a minor shall
be punished by a fine of $1,000, no part of which shall be
suspended, and the person shall be required to perform not less
than 24 hours of community service during hours when the person
is not employed and is not attending school.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
Background : In California, to purchase, consume or possess
alcoholic beverages the age of majority is 21. Under current
law, a minor can be arrested for purchasing, consuming or
possessing alcoholic beverages, which constitutes a misdemeanor.
Any person under the age of 21 years, who attempts to purchase
any alcoholic beverage from a licensee, or the licensee's agent
or employee, is guilty of an infraction and shall be punished by
a fine of not more than $100. The penalty for a person who
furnishes alcohol to a minor is a minimum $1,000 fine and 24
hours of community service. If a person buys alcohol and
furnishes it to a minor who consumes it and causes great bodily
injury or death to himself or others, the furnisher faces a
minimum 6-12 months in county jail and a $1,000 fine.
Over the years, the Legislature has enacted legislation to
increase penalties on licensees, clerks and others making
illegal sales of alcohol to minors. The changes in law include
a provision which revokes a liquor license if the licensee makes
three sales of alcohol to a minor within a three-year period.
Clerks that make sales of alcohol to minors are guilty of
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misdemeanors and possibly subject to $1,000 fines. There is
growing sentiment that minors and other young adults should be
held more accountable in their commission of these acts.
Furnishing or Giving Alcohol to a Person under 21 : Existing law
makes it a misdemeanor for any person who sells, furnishes,
gives, or causes to be sold, furnished, or given away, any
alcoholic beverage to any person under the age of 21 years. Any
person under the age of 21 years who purchases any alcoholic
beverage, or any person under the age of 21 years who consumes
any alcoholic beverage in any on-sale premises, is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
Any person who purchases any alcoholic beverage for, or
furnishes, gives, or gives away any alcoholic beverage to, a
person under the age of 21 years, and the person under the age
of 21 years thereafter consumes the alcohol and thereby
proximately causes great bodily injury or death to himself,
herself, or any other person, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
The key issue of this bill is should the crime of selling to,
purchasing any alcoholic beverage for, or furnishing, giving, or
giving away any alcoholic beverage to, a person under 21 years
of age, and the person under 21 years of age thereafter consumes
the alcohol and thereby proximately causes great bodily injury
or death to himself, herself, or any other person, be increased
from a misdemeanor to a wobbler?
Under this bill, a retail employee would not be subject to
felony prosecution for the sale of an alcoholic beverage to a
person under the age of 21 years unless the retail employee knew
the person was under the age of 21 years.
Purpose of the bill : According to the author's office, this
bill has been introduced to increase the penalty for those who
provide underage drinkers with alcohol and those under-age
drinkers then go on to proximately cause great bodily injury or
death to someone as a result of their illegal intoxication. Our
state must send a strong message to irresponsible adults that
their reckless and complicit action in contributing to the
dangerous intoxication of under-age persons will not result in a
minor slap on the wrist, especially when their action leads to
the death or great bodily injury of another.
According to the author, "on August 31, 2012, a student at
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Fresno State University drank to the point of death at an off
campus fraternity party. The deceased student was one of 12
underage students who were provided alcohol by three individuals
ages 22, 24, and 28. According to Fresno Police Chief Jerry
Dyer, two of the individuals bought eight bottles of distilled
spirits, and took a group of pledges into the "trophy room" at
the fraternity house. Chief Dyer reported the deceased underage
student was taken to another room at some point, where "sober
brothers" would keep an eye on him. It was about 1:30 a.m. when
the victim was found to be "unresponsive." He later died in a
hospital. In a press release, Fresno D.A. Elizabeth Egan said,
"sadly, the fact is that the death was 100 percent preventable."
According to background provided by the author, a study
conducted by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
(PIRE) cited several issues that were included in their study of
costs of underage drinking to California such as violence,
property crime and high risk sex. Nearly $3.8 million went
toward youth violence (homicide, suicide, aggravated assault)
and traffic crashes related to youth drinking accounted for $1.1
million, according to the study. Health issues were also
represented in the findings such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
among teen mothers, which ended up costing the state $152
million. Nearly 1.4 million minors consume alcohol each year in
California.
The author's office points out, in 2009, an estimated 141
traffic fatalities and 7,552 nonfatal traffic injuries were
attributable to driving after underage drinking. In 2009, an
estimated 239 homicides; 141,500 nonfatal violent crimes such as
rape, robbery, and assault; 179,000 property crimes including
burglary, larceny, and car theft were attributable to underage
drinking.
Most recently, on March 18 2013, a statewide "tap shoulder"
operation using decoy minors to solicit the purchase of alcohol
to minors resulted in 506 arrests in California. The single day
operation surpassed the number of arrests from the previous year
of 436 arrests.
Double-referral : This measure is double-referred to the
Assembly Committee on Public Safety.
Prior legislation : AB 1658 (S. Runner), Chapter 743, Statutes
of 2007. Increased the fines for trying to purchase alcohol by
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persons under 21 years old and manufacturing of false IDs and
licenses.
AB 1657 (S. Runner), 2007-2008 Regular Session. Would have it a
wobbler to purchase alcohol for, or furnish, give or give away
any alcoholic beverage to, a person the provider knew or
reasonably should have known to be under the age of 21 years,
and the person under the age of 21 consumes the alcohol and
thereby proximately causes great bodily injury or death to
himself, herself or any other person and the provider should
have known of the danger. (Failed Senate Public Safety
Committee)
AB 2967 (S. Runner), 2005-2006 Regular Session. Would have made
it a wobbler to purchase alcohol for, furnish, give or give away
any alcoholic beverage to a person the provider knew or
reasonably should have known to be under the age of 21 years,
and the person under the age of 21 consumes the alcohol and
thereby proximately causes great bodily injury or death to
himself, herself or any other person and the provider should
have known of the danger. (Failed Senate Public Safety
Committee)
AB 454 (S. Runner), 2005-2006 Regular Session. Would have made
it a wobbler to purchase alcohol for, furnish, give or give away
any alcoholic beverage to a person the provider knew or
reasonably should have known to be under the age of 21 years,
and the person under the age of 21 consumes the alcohol and
thereby proximately causes great bodily injury or death to
himself, herself or any other person and the provider should
have known of the danger. (Failed Senate Public Safety
Committee)
AB 2037 (La Suer), Chapter 291, Statutes of 2004. Provides the
same liability for furnishing or giving alcohol to a person
under 21 years of age as there currently is for purchasing
alcohol for a person under 21 years of age when the person under
21 drinks the alcohol and proximately causes injury or death.
AB 1301 (Simitian), Chapter. 625, Statutes 2003. Created a
misdemeanor for permitting a person under the age of 18 to
consume alcohol or a controlled substance at the home of the
adult or legal guardian, as specified.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
AB 1128
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Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Johnson / G. O. / (916) 319-2531