‘Tis the season. The weather is hot. The days are long and there’s gotta be a party somewhere; just about every night. If you’re not on the guest list, but heard about it through social media or a friend of a friend of someone who knows where the house is, you’re there.
Actually, it’s always the season and the police know it. So do the 911 dispatchers, your college of choice and your next internship.
If you’re a high school student or college co-ed, or if you’re the parent of either, here are
Five Things that You Need to Know about a Charge of Possession of Alcohol by a Minor:
One
Even though the first offense is an infraction, and you can plead by mail, , if you plead guilty, you will have a record. In other words, Connecticut DMV will make a publicly available record for at least two years that you’ve been convicted of Possession of Alcohol by a Minor. That’s a very different world than a conviction for speeding or running a red light.
Two
If you’re on a public street or highway, and you’re ticketed for Possession of Alcohol by a Minor and then plead guilty, your driver’s license will be suspended for sixty days. If you’re not on a public highway or street, but on public or private property, your license will be suspended for thirty days.
Three
If you don’t have a license yet and are charged with Possession of Alcohol by a Minor, you will have to wait 5 months before you can even apply for a driver’s license.
Four
Colleges, employers, (including internships), coaches and athletic departments do background checks. Academic, extracurricular and other things being equal between two teenagers, why pick the kid with a possession of alcohol conviction when you can pick one without any record at all?
Five
If you’re in a car or a house or anywhere else and even if you had nothing to do with buying, transporting or storing the beer, Vodka, rum or other alcohol that police find in your immediate vicinity, you can be charged with possession of alcohol by a minor.
We tell our people to sharpen their radars.
Frankly, we tell our people to put down the beer and exit wherever you may find yourself, underage, but in the company of liquor. If you have goals, objectives and commitments, it’s not worth it. But, if you’re the mother or father of a teenager or underage person who has been charged with Possession of Alcohol by a Minor, call the Maddox Law Firm, where we protect, advocate and defend the futures of young people and their families.
