On FoxNews.com, there were two stories: one dated May 2004, and one dated July 2003 about bar and liquor store owners turning the tables on underage drinkers. The bar and liquor store owners are doing this by taking the underage offenders to court and suing them for damages. Those damages range from fines to suspended or lost liquor licenses to lost wages from stores being shut down for selling alcohol to underage drinkers. Right now, this is happening in California, but it looks like a prescedent may be set in motion.
Now, I am someone who has been on the receiving end of a lawsuit before, so I can relate. I honestly believe one should not sue unless all other options have been exhausted. However, in the case of the bar owners and liquor stores, I'm all for the lawsuits. The penalties for underage drinkers are not strong enough to truly deter them from committing the crime, and all the responsibility is heaped on the seller. As someone who has worked in convenience stores, I know first hand that underage drinkers (and smokers) will try every trick in the book to get what they want. They'll play on the cashier's/waitress's ignorance, weaknesses, ego, etc. Some will argue that the owners should be held solely accountable for letting the underage patron in. However, I believe that if the patron willingly and knowingly attempted to purchase something he/she is not old enough to do, he/she is just as guilty if not more so.
In another story by FoxNews, it appears that personal injury lawyers are attempting to target alcohol advertisers, accusing the advertisers of targeting their ads to underage drinkers. Now, various studies have consistently shown that there is no link between the alcohol advertisements and underage drinking.
The part of the article that got my attention was about how Coors responded to one of the lawsuits "...with a letter to the plaintiffs' lawyer putting him on notice to either withdraw the lawsuit or face a motion for sanctions — fines judges can impose for bringing frivolous litigation ..." In other words, they fought back.
Why am I bringing these stories up? Is it about alcohol consumption? No. It's about people stepping forward and forcing instigators to be held more accountable for their actions. Too many people are filing lawsuits to make money. Too many people are blaming others for their own bad behavior (I had a bad childhood, I was in a bad relationship, Pisces was in the cusp of Leo, blah blah blah). Instead of owning up to their own bad choices and bad decisions, they blame someone else (it's your fault I had to hit you; he should have checked my ID more closely; etc).
When I read that part about Coors sending their response to that lawyer made me want to jump up and shout, "Yes! Finally!" People and lawyers who are filing these frivilous lawsuits to make money need to be slapped with civil and financial sanctions. And yes, that includes the stupid lady who put a hot cup of coffee between her legs, scalded herself, and sued McDonalds for her stupidity.
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