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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
 Posted - 03/22/2006 : 17:19:44
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In Texas, no one in a bar can be drunk.
quote:
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said on Wednesday.
The first sting operation was conducted recently in a Dallas suburb where agents infiltrated 36 bars and arrested 30 people for public intoxication, said the commission's Carolyn Beck.
Being in a bar does not exempt one from the state laws against public drunkenness, Beck said.
So no more going to the bar on Patty's Day, New Years, or to celebrate your birthdays, y'all. Texas wants nothing but closet drunks who drink alone in their homes. Yee haw!
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
Edited by - H. Humbert on 03/22/2006 17:21:06
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GeeMack
SFN Regular
USA
1093 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2006 : 17:32:33 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by H. Humbert...
So no more going to the bar on Patty's Day, New Years, or to celebrate your birthdays, y'all. Texas wants nothing but closet drunks who drink alone in their homes. Yee haw!
Well if being a closet drunk is good enough for George W. Bush, it ought to be good enough for everyone else in Texas, too. 
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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2006 : 18:06:30 [Permalink]
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| There's not much stopping it, driving drunk, with the level of drinking that goes on in bars. I'd think the best deterent would be stiffer penalties. What's some of the penalties over in Europe? I hear some counties are really hammering down on drunk drivers. Maybe lenghty jail sentences on the first conviction. Wonder how many thousands of lives that might save over here?? |
"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."
"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2006 : 18:35:44 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Randy
Wonder how many thousands of lives that might save over here??
Five times as many as perished in the World Trade Center-attack. Annually.
(If you could eliminate drunk-driving completely) |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
| Edited by - Dr. Mabuse on 03/22/2006 18:36:35 |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2006 : 19:07:46 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Randy
There's not much stopping it, driving drunk, with the level of drinking that goes on in bars. I'd think the best deterent would be stiffer penalties. What's some of the penalties over in Europe? I hear some counties are really hammering down on drunk drivers. Maybe lenghty jail sentences on the first conviction. Wonder how many thousands of lives that might save over here??
As far as I know, public intoxication is a misdemeanor that carries with it a fine of anywhere (I'm guessing) from $100-200. You will almost never see a police officer issue a ticket for this "offense" alone. It's just something they can tack onto another crime in case charges get pled down later in court. For instance, if someone gets into a drunken brawl, they will most likely by hit with a list of charges including assault, disorderly conduct, and public intoxication among others, in the likely event that your lawyer convinces you to accept a plea deal in which some of those charges are dropped.
But to walk into a bar and just start issuing tickets to the patrons there is complete crap. There is no reason other than greed that motivates city officials to issue BS fines like this. Did you see the reason for the tickets given in the article?
quote:
"There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when they're intoxicated other than get behind the wheel of a car," Beck said. "People walk out into traffic and get run over, people jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss."
So imagine yourself sitting in a pub when a officer walks up and hands you a $200 ticket. "What's this for?" you ask. "Just trying to stop you from walking into traffic." "Uh, thanks, but I really wasn't going to."
I don't know how many lives have been "hypothetically" saved by this program so far, but I would wager it's near zero. Meanwhile, the comission's actions have swelled city coffers by at least $6,000, not to mention additional court and lawyers' fees. And they can get away with it because they hide behind the guise of acting on the behalf of the citizenry. Just tell the public you are doing something for their own good and they'll let you walk all over them.
What I'm waiting to see is what the bar owners are going to do about this. Having the fuzz stroll in and issue fines to patrons isn't exactly good for business.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 03/22/2006 19:13:44 |
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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2006 : 20:27:02 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
quote:
Originally posted by Randy
Wonder how many thousands of lives that might save over here??
Five times as many as perished in the World Trade Center-attack. Annually.
(If you could eliminate drunk-driving completely)
I know where all those thousands of weapons of mass descruction are...they're over here with a drunk behind every wheel. |
"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."
"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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Jumbo
New Member
24 Posts |
Posted - 03/24/2006 : 03:36:22 [Permalink]
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Technically in the UK its also illegal to be drunk in a pub or bar/club as they are public places. The only place its specifically legal to be plastered is in a private home as long as you arent at the time caring for a child of 7 or under.
Not that the law enforced in the case of pubs except where someone causes a real nuisance of themselves or tries to drive home. (I think they have to actually sit in the car before an arrest is made). Ive seen plenty of plastered people in pubs here but never seen the police arrest anyone who hadnt also been in the process of commiting another offence. |
The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be lighted |
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tw101356
Skeptic Friend
USA
333 Posts |
Posted - 03/24/2006 : 07:53:31 [Permalink]
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When I was stationed at Ft. Hood, Texas back in '80-'81 a lot of the little towns around the post would have the local cops stake out clubs and ticket or even arrest GIs for public intoxication when they stepped outside. The rumor was that they did this because the DUI lawas were at the state level and resulted in fines going into the state treasury whereas PI fines went into the town treasury.
These same towns had moving violation traps. Traffic was usually too heavy and slow for speed traps to be viable, but the local cops would watch and pull cars over for things like changing lanes without signaling. That was a $50 ticket, but then they'd make you go through a roadside safety check to see if they could add safety violation tickets to the score. |
- TW
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2006 : 15:58:08 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by tw101356
These same towns had moving violation traps. Traffic was usually too heavy and slow for speed traps to be viable, but the local cops would watch and pull cars over for things like changing lanes without signaling. That was a $50 ticket, but then they'd make you go through a roadside safety check to see if they could add safety violation tickets to the score.
Sounds just like how I got my latest fine: The police car was standing at the stop-sign on a crossing road when I passed them just a bit too fast. But once they caught up with me, they never mentioned any speeding, but wrote me down for driving with head lights as well as fog-lights. In Sweden it's an either/or. You can't have two pairs of main lights. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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