Social Host Liability Laws and Teen Party Ordinances

Video

60 Minutes ' Lesley Stahl reports on the controversial trend of parents allowing teens to drink—even binge drink—alcohol in their homes in efforts to prevent drunk driving.

There is growing attention to the issue of adults hosting drinking parties for young people in their homes. Parents and other adults, who are concerned about drinking and driving accidents, decide that, since young people are going to drink, it's better they drink in their homes rather than somewhere else.

On the surface it seems sensible, but the truth is that teen drinking parties can be the source of many problems—of which only one is driving. Drinking parties almost always involve binge drinking, and can lead to
violence, sexual assault, rape, and even alcohol poisoning.

To address this growing problem, communities across the country are passing laws that hold adults accountable when they host an underage drinking party. Two key regulations include social host liability laws and teen party ordinances.

Social Host Liability
Under social host liability law, adults who serve or provide alcohol to a person under the age of 21 can be held criminally liable if that minor is killed or injured, or kills or injures another person. Social host liability laws are similar to dram shop laws for businesses.

Teen Party Ordinances
In contrast to social host liability laws, teen party ordinances make it illegal to host a party where underage youth are drinking. Under this law, the offense is the hosting of the party itself and parents or older friends and siblings can be arrested if they allow a drinking party to occur with their knowledge. Teen party ordinances differ from social host laws in two ways:

•  Adults do not need to serve or provide alcohol in order to break the law. It's enough if alcohol is present at the party.

•  It doesn't require a young person to suffer injury or cause property damages in order to hold the adult host accountable.

Many communities have passed social host and teen party ordinances. For instance, cities in San Diego County, California have either passed or are in the process of passing social host liability laws. Many other cities in states around the country—like California and Connecticut— have also passed teen party ordinances as a way to curb social access to alcohol for young people.