BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1128
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1128 (Salas)
As Amended April 18, 2013
Majority vote
GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION 15-0 PUBLIC SAFETY 6-0
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|Ayes:|Hall, Nestande, Bigelow, |Ayes:|Ammiano, Melendez, |
| |Cooley, Gray, Roger | |Jones-Sawyer, Mitchell, |
| |Hernández, Jones, | |Skinner, Waldron |
| |Jones-Sawyer, Levine, | | |
| |Medina, Perea, V. Manuel | | |
| |Pérez, Salas, Torres, | | |
| |Waldron | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, | | |
| |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian | | |
| |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, | | |
| |Gomez, Hall, Ammiano, | | |
| |Linder, Pan, Quirk, | | |
| |Wagner, Weber | | |
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SUMMARY : Makes it an alternate felony/misdemeanor with the
felony offense punishable by 16 months, two, or three years in a
county jail for any person convicted of selling or furnishing an
alcoholic beverage to a person under 21years of age, who
thereafter consumes the alcohol and proximately causes great
bodily injury (GBI) or death to himself, herself, or another
person, rather than a straight misdemeanor. Specifically, this
bill :
1)States that any person that sells to, purchases for,
furnishes, or gives 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 proximately causes GBI or
death to himself, herself, or another person is guilty of a
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felony punishable by 16 months, two, or three years in a
county jail.
2)Provides that a retail employee of a licensee shall not be
subject to a felony prosecution, as specified, for the sale of
alcoholic beverages to a person under the age of 21 unless the
retail employee knew the person to whom the beverage was sold
was under 21years 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 punishable by imprisonment in the county jail
not exceeding six month, by a fine not to exceed $1,000, or by
both a fine and imprisonment. (Business and Professions Code
Section 25658(a).)
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
GBI or death to himself, herself, or any other person is
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by not less than six months
or not more than one year in a county jail. (Business and
Professions Code Section 25658(c).)
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 punishable by imprisonment in the
county jail not exceeding six month, by a fine not to exceed
$1,000, or by both a fine and imprisonment. (Business and
Professions Code Section 25658(d).)
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
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person is not employed and is not attending school. (Business
and Professions Code Section 25658(e)(2).)
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, unknown, probably minor non-reimbursable local law
enforcement and incarceration costs, offset to a degree by
increased fine revenue and offender financial liability. It is
not likely a significant number of offenders would serve actual
jail time under this bill. By creating an alternate
felony/misdemeanor, however, the bill does create the
possibility of longer jail terms that could impact future
realignment formulae and exacerbate jail overcrowding.
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
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
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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
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
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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.
Prior legislation : AB 1658 (S. Runner), Chapter 743, Statutes
of 2007. Increased the fines for trying to purchase alcohol by
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
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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.
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Johnson / G. O. / (916) 319-2531
FN: 0000941