Social Host Liability
What is Social Host Liability?
Social host liability refers to laws that hold individuals responsible for underage drinking events on property they own, lease, or otherwise control. Unlike laws that prohibit furnishing alcohol to youth under 21, social host laws focus on preventing underage drinking on private property without regard to who furnishes the alcohol. Their focus is on the venues in which underage drinking takes place rather than on the furnishing of the alcohol. Upon arrival at the scene of a party in which underage youth are drinking alcohol, law enforcement officers typically are unable to determine who provided the alcohol. Social host ordinances allow law enforcement to cite the individual who hosted the underage drinking party.
Responsible individuals under social host laws may include parents, landowners, and tenants. Depending on the jurisdiction, violations of social
host laws can lead to civil or criminal fines, imprisonment, and money damages awards. As of January 1, 2008, unlawful social hosting is a crime in 24 states. (Alcohol Policy Information System) As of September 2006, in 33 states, social hosting also can result in civil lawsuits against a host who has allowed an underage drinking gathering to occur and subsequently someone is harmed because of a guest under 21 is intoxicated. (U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Property Casualty Insurers Association of America; Insurance Information Institute) In addition to constituting state violations, furnishing and social hosting are civil and/or criminal violations under many city and county codes.
Types of Laws
Social hosts who allow underage drinking parties on their property may face several distinct types of liability:
- state-level social host civil liability
- state-level social host criminal liability
- city or county criminal infractions
- city or county criminal misdemeanors
- city or county civil or administrative citation ordinances
- city or county response costs recovery ordinances
State-level social host civil liability imposes, by statute or by court decision, a civil duty on social hosts across the relevant state that can be enforced through litigation brought by injured private parties seeking money damages against the hosts.
State-level social host criminal liability, by contrast, involves a violation, enforced through criminal prosecution and leading to criminal sanctions such as fines or imprisonment. It is closely linked to state laws prohibiting individuals from furnishing alcohol to youth under 21 prohibitions found in all states, with varying exceptions. (Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS)).
City or county criminal infraction ordinances treat social host liability as a criminal matter, but the punishment they carry is, at most, a monetary fine rather than jail time.
City or county criminal misdemeanor ordinances treat social host liability as a misdemeanor, in the same way some states do, carrying possible jail time as a penalty.
City or county civil or administrative citation ordinances and city or county civil response cost recovery ordinances are those for which offenders face no criminal penalties, no criminal monetary fines, and no jail time. Instead, these ordinances declare an underage drinking party on private property a civil public nuisance, which threatens the public health, safety and general welfare.
Under city or county civil or administrative citation ordinances, persons who own, lease or otherwise control the property on which an out of control party occurs are civilly responsible for civil or administrative monetary penalties for allowing an underage drinking gathering to occur on the property.
Under city or county civil response cost recovery ordinances, they are civilly responsible for the associated costs of police, fire, or other emergency response services. This way, local governments can get monetary recovery for the costs of police officer and court time to respond to the offense.
In many cities and counties, social host liability ordinances provide for a combination of criminal and civil penalties, ranging from fines, jail time, administrative fees, and response costs.
The Impact of Social Host Liability Laws
In intent, Social Host Ordinances (both criminal and civil) can succeed by:
- Providing an effective deterrent for adults and youth under 21 that host parties where underage drinking is occurring;
- Increase the awareness of youth under 21 at parties where alcohol is being served and gives incentives for hosts to be vigilant for underage consumption of alcohol;
- Encouraging parents to take reasonable steps to prevent such parties while away;
- Holding underage youth partially accountable for underage drinking parties planned without the knowledge of their parents;
- Recovering costs of responding to the same party site repeatedly;
- Officially establishing the City’s zero-tolerance policy for underage drinking.
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