GILROY
– High school graduations not only connote caps and gowns but
also house parties.
GILROY – High school graduations not only connote caps and gowns but also house parties.
This year, parents have extra reason to be cautious if they host a party where underage drinking takes place: A state law effective since January may hold them responsible if they knowingly allow a minor under age 18 to drink in their home.
If that youth drives away from the party, is involved in a traffic accident and has a blood-alcohol concentration of .05 percent or more, parents and legal guardians face misdemeanor charges punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, jail up to a year or both.
“The law was enacted specifically to address situations … like graduation parties where there’s a keg of beer and the parents are clearly aware that alcohol is being consumed by minors,” Deputy District Attorney Frank Carrubba said.
If there is a DUI accident, it will be handled like any other traffic accident, Carrubba said. People involved will be interviewed and minors will be asked how they got the alcohol and where it was consumed.
Adult-supervised underage drinking has not been a problem in Gilroy, according to Sergeant Noel Provost.
“So far we haven’t run into any of that,” he said. “We aren’t expecting any different this weekend.”
When there have been complaints about loud parties, minors have been cited and escorted back to their parents. The new law goes further.
“We’ll identify the owner of the house and see that they are prosecuted properly,” Provost said.
Business and Professions code 25658.2 was approved by then-Governor Gray Davis in September 2003. It is an attempt to close what some considered a loophole in state law. Prior to it, only adults who supplied alcohol to minors under 21 were liable. The code also applies to use of controlled substances by minors.
