# If you're tipsy, shouldn't a bar be a safe haven? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 23, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627 "2006-03-23T19:22:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SpectBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@SpectBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpectBrain)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/1 "2006-03-23T19:22:20Z")
In Texas, apparently [not](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11965237/from/RS.1/) . > [@](#): > > SAN ANTONIO, Texas - 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. For the purposes of public intoxication, how is drunkeness defined? Would a patron be forced to blow a breathalyzer? I think it’s wrong to enforce this. If the cops want to stake out the bar’s parking lot and arrest a drunk for getting behind the wheel of a car, that’s fine with me. If a sober designated driver takes the inebriate home, than what’s the problem? FTR I do not spend much time in bars. I just think that this is wrong unless the arrestee is fighting or causing some kind of disturbance. What are your thoughts on this? ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/2 "2006-03-23T19:30:06Z")
I think most places have laws against public drunkenness (however they choose to phrase the term). I also think anyplace other than a private home or private club meets the legal definition of “public.” So, I think that it would stand up in a court of law (IMHO, of course). Having said that, if they’re going to arrest drinkers for being drunk, don’t they have to also arrest servers for overserving? I think it’s a zealous attempt to proactively cut down on drunk driving, but I worry about the subjective interpretation of “drunk” in the hands of the cops. And I agree that a person not misbehaving in public but simply over the legal limit, who is being driven home by a sober driver, shouldn’t really be arrested for anything. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/3 "2006-03-23T21:28:38Z")
I’d be outraged if I (or anyone else) were arrested for “being drunk” if they were minding their own business and behaving perfectly reasonably. That’s why in the UK the offence is “drunk and disorderly”, which a good number of drunks are, of course. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/4 "2006-03-23T21:46:40Z")
> [@SpectBrain](#): > > For the purposes of public intoxication, how is drunkeness defined? The Texas Penal Code: > [@](#): > > § 49.02. PUBLIC INTOXICATION. (a) A person commits an > offense if the person appears in a public place while intoxicated to > the degree that the person may endanger the person or another. > > ``` > (b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that > > ``` > > the alcohol or other substance was administered for therapeutic > purposes and as a part of the person’s professional medical > treatment by a licensed physician. > > ``` > (c) Except as provided by Subsection (e), an offense under > > ``` > > this section is a Class C misdemeanor. > > ``` > (d) An offense under this section is not a lesser included > > ``` > > offense under Section 49.04. > > ``` > (e) An offense under this section committed by a person > > ``` > > younger than 21 years of age is punishable in the same manner as if > the minor committed an offense to which Section 106.071, Alcoholic > Beverage Code, applies. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/5 "2006-03-23T21:48:20Z")
What assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/6 "2006-03-23T21:55:17Z")
They tried to pull this in Fairfax County, VA a while back. I seem to remember that it was decided that a bar was private property and that the drunks were guests, therefore the cops were out of line asking people in the bar to do drunk tests. Sorry, no cite. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/7 "2006-03-23T22:33:37Z")
“I wasn’t drunk in public. I was drunk in a bar. They threw me out into _publick_.” -Ron White ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/8 "2006-03-23T22:36:33Z")
There’s a [parallel thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=364044) over in GD. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/9 "2006-03-23T22:38:10Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > There’s a [parallel thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=364044) over in GD. It’s exactly like this one, except they’re all evil and have goatees. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/10 "2006-03-23T23:10:23Z")
Have to wonder how the police treated bar patrons who simply said no. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/11 "2006-03-24T00:26:26Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > It’s exactly like this one, except they’re all evil and have goatees. Except the women, who dress slutty and have knives strapped to their legs, and come on to every guy in power. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/12 "2006-03-24T00:58:58Z")
What makes it even more asinine is that they can’t really even claim to be cracking down on drunk driving. They were also sweeping hotel bars, arresting people who had checked in and weren’t going to be driving anywhere. [http://www.nbc5i.com/news/8169246/detail.html](http://www.nbc5i.com/news/8169246/detail.html) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/13 "2006-03-26T02:25:51Z")
Does anyone know how “drunkenness” is defined for statutes against public intoxication? I’d think the standard used for safe driving ability would be absurdly low for any other context, such as, for example, finding your way back to your hotel room. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/14 "2006-03-26T02:33:58Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > “I wasn’t drunk in public. I was drunk in a bar. They threw me out into _publick_.” > -Ron White That’s kind of my thoughts. Bars are private property, right? So how can a drunk in a bar be considered drunk in public (at least, until they exit the front door, either by walking or other means)? ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-tipsy-shouldnt-a-bar-be-a-safe-haven/349627/15 "2006-03-26T02:44:06Z")
> [@Jayn\_Newell](#): > > That’s kind of my thoughts. Bars are private property, right? So how can a drunk in a bar be considered drunk in public (at least, until they exit the front door, either by walking or other means)? As a former smoker in the Empire State, I can attest to the state’s ability to do all sorts of strange things in bars. It has to do with the public accommodation laws.