S.F. bar owners hauling underage drinkers into court

[Ediacara]

S.F. bar owners hauling underage drinkers into court
Small claims judgments a new deterrent against those using fake IDs to buy booze

Harriet Chiang, Chronicle Legal Affairs Writer
Monday, May 10, 2004


Michael DiBenedetti, an owner of Amante bar: "It's going
to cost these underage kids more than a slap on the wrist.''
Chronicle photo by Kim Komenich

When Amante bar in San Francisco was slapped with a $3,000 fine for serving an underage customer who had used someone else's driver's license to gain entrance, the owners of the bustling North Beach establishment decided to take action.

They sued the 20-year-old woman in San Francisco's small claims court and last month won a $5,000 judgment. Emboldened by the success of their innovative approach, Amante's owners, Michael DiBenedetti, Wizz Wentworth and Erik Boardman, have decided they won't stop there. They have joined other bar owners to crack down on underage drinkers by turning to the court system to make them pay.

"I definitely think it's going to send a message,'' said Dibenedetti, who has been in the bartending business for 30 years. "Let it be known that all of the bars are going to be doing this, and it's going to cost these underage kids more than a slap on the wrist.''

More at the San Francisco Chronicle

[Stuckinthebush]

1. Smart

If a person knowingly breaks the law and causes another entity to suffer damages, then that person should be held responsible.

Good.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. And another thing

That will make entrapment ops more expensive.

[Book Lover]

2. I have mixed feelings

On the one hand, I think it is a great idea for owners to bring suit to recover the money paid out as a fine. On the other hand, the drinking age should be 18 again. On the other other hand, people should raise their offspring to be adults, and not perpetual teenagers, so that when a person does reach their majority, they can behave appropriately, including moderate drinking.

[progressivebydesign]

5. If the day ever comes that the majority can raise responsible kids..

.. then your ideas might work. But.. until the majority of parents put more interest and time into raising and actually parenting their teens, rather than popping a beer and watching t.v. every non-working minute, then the drinking age is fine where it is. America is too screwed up for us to think that we can suddenly operate like a civilized European country...

[Book Lover]

6. I understand

why you say what you are saying - as a mother myself, I have seen exactly what you describe happening with my son's friends' families.. On the other hand (I am just full of them today, it seems), 18 is old enough to make these kinds of rational decisions. I can drive, carry a gun, join the Army, marry and raise a child, work as a cop, teach; I can do ten thousand things when I reach the age of majority, except have a freaking drink.

[slaveplanet]

3. let me see if I understand this correctly

the Law forces these bar owners to become police.
the police then fail to do their job.
the police then turn and sue the violator because the police failed to do their job.
the police then net $2000 for failing to do their job.
This to me sounds like it's profitable to get busted for allowing underage drinkers.

Shouldn't the bouncer who failed to look at the picture on the license correctly be the one who's liable

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. I'm not sure about California, but

here in Pennsylvania if a bar gets busted for serving minors they can also get their liquor license suspended or revoked. That can be a lot worse than a fine.

[slaveplanet]

8. even better

They're are many documented cases where the police seize establishments for drugs or underage drinking, fights, etc...In many areas the Police operate a 1/3 or 1/2 of all bars there because of forfeiture laws. This enforcement is all about control and installing the control grid....articles like this are floated to soften the populus and make the case for better ID systems, putting biometric scanners in bars and many other places where strangers gather in open discussion.

The UK is much farther along with all this, but believe me we're not far behind