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NEW RULES, NEW PENALTIES FOR UNDERAGE DRINKING IN
By GEORGE A. CLOWES, Trustee, Village of Mount Prospect You're a young basketball player. You play by the rules. You expect other players to do the same. Your team manager sets a good example. You expect the other team manager to do the same. When you play, you want a referee who is strict in rendering penalties for foul play or unsportsmanlike conduct. That way, the game is fun, it's fair, and it's safe. But what if foul play could be excused by arguments of "He didn't mean to do it," and "It's not really a foul"? And what if the referee couldn't throw players out of the game even for blatant fouls? What if, as a result, some team managers encouraged their players to bend the rules? If there were no real penalties in basketball, wouldn't the game become a joke? Wouldn't you want to tighten up the rules? What if, instead of basketball, it was underage drinking and driving? Where lenient penalties are treated like a joke. Where only the Secretary of State can suspend a young offender's driving license. Where some parents make their homes available for underage drinking parties. Wouldn't you want to do something about it? A group of concerned teens and parents in Mount Prospect, Illinois, has done something about it. On June 15,1993, the Village Board gave its unanimous approval to a parental accountability ordinance that was developed by TAP Mount Prospect, Teens and Parents for a Better Mount Prospect. As a result of this new ordinance, the rules and the penalties for underage drinking and driving in Mount Prospect are now much more strict, both for the players (teenage drinkers) and for the team managers (parents and other adults). And the referees (the courts) no longer have the leeway to waive penalties. Here's what the new ordinance does:
NEW RULES AND PENALTIES FOR • It is now illegal for an underage person to drive in Mount Prospect while impaired by alcohol (you don't need to be legally drunk, just impaired); • An underage person who uses false identification to obtain alcohol now faces a mandatory fine of $500 and a 6-month loss of driving privileges in Mount Prospect; • If an underage person is found driving while impaired by alcohol or with alcohol in the vehicle, the vehicle is impounded; recovery costs $250 plus any towing or storage charges; if the underage person is subsequently found guilty of an alcohol-related offense, then driving privileges in Mount Prospect are suspended for 6 months; • An underage person found guilty of driving while his or her driving privileges are suspended is subject to a mandatory fine of $500; • If other communities adopt similar ordinances to suspend an underage person's driving privileges in their communities, any suspension of driving privileges by any one of these communities would apply in all of these communities.
NEW RULES AND PENALTIES FOR • Any person who delivers alcohol to an underage person faces a mandatory fine of $1000 unless the delivery is subject to one of the two strict exceptions provided below: • A person may deliver alcohol to an underage person only (a) as part of a bona fide religious service, or (b) where it is by the parent only, in the home only, under the direct supervision of the parent only, and where the parent is held vicariously liable for any subsequent injury that may occur (see below); • Any person who negligently permits underage drinking in a home or on a business premises faces a mandatory fine of $1000, whether the person is present or not; • If an underage person causes injury to others through impairment by alcohol, then the following persons are held to be vicariously liable (subject to civil liability):
During the Village Board's review and discussion of this ordinance, Village Trustee George Clowes, chairman of TAP Mount Prospect, made the following comments: "It would be better if we did not have to September 1993 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 15 pass an ordinance like this but, in the interests of public safety, the Village needs to tell parents that they must establish rules for their children. It's not the parents who set rules and communicate with their children that we're trying to get to: it's the parents who have lost control of their children — those who set no limits, who establish no consequences. We need to get through to them and have them take control of their children. This ordinance is an attempt to do that."
STRATEGY USED TO DEVELOP As guidelines for developing new legislation to address underage drinking and underage drinking and driving, the TAP Mount Prospect group decided on the following approach: • Any new laws should address the problem, not just a small part of it; • Any new laws should address the problem, not just make people feel they were "doing something"; • Any new laws should be for local application rather than state application; • Any new laws should permit the Village itself to impose penalties since the courts in general have tended to be much too lenient with offenders; • In general, penalties should be mandatory — again because the courts have failed to dispense tough justice to offenders; • The underage drinker-driver should face a penalty that is meaningful — e.g., loss of license; • Parents who permit underage drinking in their homes should face mandatory fines; • Any new laws should be enforceable; • Any new laws should be acceptable to neighboring communities so that they could approve similar legislation; the aim was to develop a model ordinance that would have wide applicability. The parental accountability ordinance was developed by "TAP Mount Prospect's law enforcement sub-committee, which gathered input from many sources, including parents, youth, police officers, and a judge. Many neighboring municipalities, such as Elk Grove, Des Plaines, Arlington Heights, Schaumburg, and Buffalo Grove, already have expressed interest in the Mount Prospect ordinance and are currently reviewing whether to adopt a similar ordinance in their communities. TAP MOUNT PROSPECT The impetus to form TAP Mount Prospect came from the alcohol-related deaths of three young students in Mount Prospect a year and a half ago. A total of 7 High School District 214 students died in alcohol-related accidents during the 1991-92 school year. Despite this, comments made by students in a recent survey at Prospect High School were that "The fatal accidents had little prevention effect; even students closely related to incidents are still using." Among other comments were that it's "Hard to say NO since almost all parties have alcohol," and "Kids still think it won't happen to them, even when coming from a funeral." Despite having strict drunk-driving laws in Mount Prospect, underage drinkers knew that the penalties from the courts for underage drinking and driving were relatively minor — so much so that the penalties were treated as a "joke" by many underage drinkers. TAP Mount Prospect was concerned about this and believed that the lack of meaningful penalties encouraged a disrespect for the law and certainly did not discourage underage drinking. TAP Mount Prospect had its genesis in early 1992 when Mayor Gerald "Skip" Parley called together representatives from concerned families and community organisations to determine it there should be any community response to the problem of underage drinking and driving. The ad hoc group met several times during 1992, including two meetings with junior high and high school students. Trustee George Clowes was appointed chairman of the group in November, 1992. Initially, the group consisted of concerned parents and representatives from local school districts, park districts, churches, the Village Library, and the Village, all of whom volunteered their time. However, in early 1993, a decision was made to include teens from local high schools and junior high schools as full members of the group. This turned out to be a critical decision since these young people provided valuable insights into the problem and helped establish priorities for action on junior high youth activities and parental responsibility. The group chose the name "TAP Mount Prospect" (Teens and Parents for a Better Mount Prospect) to emphasize tapping the resources of the village to work together for a better community, one that provides a sate and secure environment for all citizens. TAP Mount Prospect seeks to promote youth as responsible citizens in Mount Prospect through the cooperative efforts of youth, families, and concerned community or- Page 16 / Illinois Municipal Review / September 1993 ganizations such as churches, schools, park districts, library, and Village. YO MOUNT PROSPECT! In addition to the law enforcement subcommittee that developed the parental accountability ordinance, TAP Mount Prospect has two other subcommittees that round out its focus — parenting and youth activities. The work on parenting involves educating parents, teens, and pre-teens on the laws that affect them in Mount Prospect. Wherever possible, TAP Mount Prospect is taking advantage of existing parenting programs and other activities run by local organizations such as OMNI, Fighting Back, and C.R.U.S.H. (Community Resources United for Student Health). TAP'S activities in this area are run by local schools and the first parenting seminars are scheduled for the beginning of the 1993-94 school year. In May, 1992, TAP'S youth activities subcommittee initiated the production of a combined youth activities calendar called 'YO Mount Prospect!' (Youth Organization of Mount Prospect). The calendar is necessary because the boundaries of local school and park districts are not contiguous with Village boundaries. In fact, there are parts of 2 townships, 5 park districts, and 7 school districts within the boundaries of the Village of Mount Prospect. Students attending the same grade school aren't necessarily all in the same park district or township and so may receive different information on activities that arc available to them. The YO Mount Prospect! calendar covers open activities from the Village Library and across park districts, schools, and churches. On July 23, 1993, the work of TAP Mount Prospect was honored by the award of a $5,000 grant for Positive Youth Development from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Thanks should go to the members of TAP Mount Prospect and to those who have contributed their expertise, insights, and ideas: Jack Ashenfelter, Jim Barnd, Mary Lynn Bower, Rhea Byer-Ettinger, Sister Elaine Campbell, Debbie Carlson, Bev Cusick, Cori Dalton, Ann DeBartolo, Dr. Bud Des Carpentrie, Mayor "Skip" Farley, Emma Farwick, James Fay, Jess Frank, Dr. Ronald Fuchs, David Gaub, Marilyn Genther, Judge James Geocaris, Kelly Gier, Anita Grabowski, Russ Haak, Melba Hanssen, Becky Highberger, Everette Hill, Rev. Karl Honold, Leo Hunt, Sister Dannielle Jacob, Alice Janczak, MikeJanonis, Don Kersemeier, Nicholas Korkoron, Alva Kreutxer, Brandon Kulosa, Connie Kusiciel, Kim Kutska, Bud Lewis, Pastor Omar Logan, Eileen Manno, Dr. Tom Many, Jim McDermott, Rev. Michael Meary, Nancy Morgan, Officer Kim Nagel, Police Chief Ron Pavlock, Cheryl Quinn, Dr. Tom Rich, Elena Rosenfeld, Officer Bob Rzepecki, Tom Tayler, Sandy Truesdale, Rev. William Tucker, Karen Uhren, Patti Walpole, Jim Wicklund, Hilary Wilkin, Mary Ann Wilkinson, Jim Wittington, Ilene Berns Zare. • September 1993 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 17 |
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