So don`t be stupid. If a person under the legal drinking age – i.e. 21 – drinks or is in possession of alcohol in a car, school or public place, they could be in significant trouble. Your child may not think that underage drinking is a big problem. Your friends can do it. Your child may be under peer pressure. BYOB is a common practice in New Jersey. You can bring your own beer or wine to a restaurant that does not have a liquor license. That is, as long as there are no local regulations prohibiting it. But BYOB for spirits or mixed drinks is illegal.
Under New Jersey state law (2C: 33-15), it is illegal for a person under the age of 21 to purchase, drink, or possess an alcoholic beverage in a public place, motor vehicle, or school. Persons over the age of 18 but under the age of 21 are charged as adults, while those under the age of 18 are charged with a juvenile offence. There is no state law prohibiting underage drinking on private property, but many municipalities prohibit the use of minors unless parents or adult parents are present. [117] [118] Public schools are not allowed to have «24/7» codes of conduct that penalize students who drink alcohol outside of school. [119] [120] Minors are allowed to enter licensed establishments, and while state law does not prohibit bars and nightclubs from holding events such as «Teen Nights» or «18 to party, 21 to drink,» some municipalities impose restrictions. [28] [121] It is legal for a person under the age of 21 to be in a place where underage drinking takes place, and New Jersey does not have an «internal possession law» that criminalizes underage drinking after the fact. [122] It is extremely important that you work to protect your child`s rights in a minor alcohol case. While your child may have justified this as juvenile folly, even if it is very clear that he made a mistake, a court will see it differently. The effects of their actions could haunt them for the rest of their lives.
In many cases, a parent may provide alcohol to their child on private property. However, some municipalities have rules and limits that go beyond state law. If the parent does not consent to drink, the youth`s actions are illegal. New Jersey state liquor laws allow people under the age of 21 to drink in private places. And they don`t have to be with a parent to do that. Private places include a house, backyard, hotel room, private room in an unlicensed restaurant, or other area without public access. However, many communities prohibit alcohol consumption before the age of 21 unless a parent over that age is present. The first drinking age law in New Jersey was passed in 1846. It allowed parents of a student under the age of 21 to sue up to $10 ($300 in modern dollars) against a tavern owner or merchant who provided liquor to their children. [130] [131] In 1880, a penal code was passed that fined businesses that sold alcohol to persons under the age of 18 if their parents told the institution not to sell to their child. [132] The Act was amended in 1888 to abolish parental consent so that, in all cases, it is illegal for a tavern or liquor store to sell liquor to persons under the age of 18.
[133] In 1908, the penalties were increased so that an innkeeper serving a minor could be imprisoned. [134] With the onset of prohibition, New Jersey repealed its laws on the sale of liquor to minors, as the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibited almost all sales of alcohol. [135] [136] Middle and high school students just want to have fun. As such, they often don`t think much about having a few drinks with their friends, even if they`re under 21. In most cases, this way of drinking by minors is an innocent act. There are real consequences for a conviction for underage drinking in New Jersey. A conviction for underage drinking is an offence and is punishable by a fine of at least $500. Harsher penalties are also possible, including jail sentences of up to 6 months and fines of up to $1,000. For people under the age of 18 accused of drinking alcohol by minors, the case will be heard in family court and not the New Jersey criminal or district system.
A conviction always means a criminal record and all the consequences that entails. Regardless of state laws governing underage use, the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard prohibit the consumption of alcohol by underage personnel while stationed in the United States. Marines under the age of 21 are allowed to drink alcohol on special occasions at U.S. bases. [304] Unlike many other states, New Jersey has no restrictions on the types or quantities of alcoholic beverages an adult can purchase. Grain alcohol, caffeinated alcoholic beverages, and absinthe can be sold legally, and state law does not impose restrictions on the alcohol content of beer or wine. [205] [206] New Jersey does not require drums to be registered, and state ABC regulations prohibit municipal drum registration laws. [122] [207] A resident may import any quantity of liquor into the state for personal use, but a $50 permit is required if more than three gallons of beer, one gallon of wine or half a gallon of spirits are imported within a 24-hour period.
[208] [209] Anyone 21 years of age or older can produce up to 200 gallons of beer or wine per year. No permit is required, but any brewing or winemaking must take place in a private home or non-commercial property, and beer and wine cannot be sold. [210] [211] It is a criminal offence to possess unregistered stills or to distill any quantity of hard liquor. [212] However, if police catch children under the age of 21 with alcohol, the fun can quickly stop. Underage drinking can result in severe penalties, both for children who do so and for adults who provided the drinks. These include fines and the possibility of imprisonment (or imprisonment for minors). Fortunately, you don`t have to take care of your child`s protégés yourself. An experienced lawyer can take care of the heavy lifting of you. Whether it`s looking for precedents, analyzing specific New Jersey laws, and even questioning witnesses to build a favorable defense, the right attorney can make an incredible difference in the case of underage alcohol.
Following complaints from bar owners about their inability to purchase liability insurance, the state passed a law in 1987 to limit liability to cases where the waiter could have realistically known that the customer was underage or drunk and to limit lawsuits to foreseeable types of injury. The Act also introduced the legal standard of comparative negligence in these cases, whereby financial harm to a licensed entity can be reduced if other persons are also negligent (e.g.