PRINCETON: Council looking at private property underage drinking

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   Princeton will consider creating an ordinance prohibiting people under 21 from drinking or possessing alcohol on private property, a measure used in most other New Jersey towns to fight underage drinking.
   Hundreds of towns around the state — more than half of all municipalities — have done so. Princeton, East Windsor and Hightston are the only Mercer County communities that have not, said Barbara Sprechman, prevention coalition coordinator with the Mercer Council on Alcoholism & Drug Addiction.
   Councilman Lance Liverman said Tuesday that the idea is one that officials plan to discuss and look at thoroughly. He said his motivation is not to see people thrown into jail for underage drinking. Instead, he said he wants to “save lives.”
   Councilwoman Heather H. Howard, also the town’s police commissioner, said Wednesday that the issue has been referred to the Princeton Alcohol and Drug Alliance, a state-funded local group made up of members of law enforcement, prevention and treatment and youth agencies and community members.
   Such an ordinance has been raised before — in both the borough and the township. Former Borough Councilman Roger Martindell, a criminal defense and civil rights lawyer, said Wednesday that he and other officials dropped the idea amid concerns it would lead to police “snooping” on private homes.
   ”We determined that an educational effort would be a wiser way of dealing with the issue than the alternative, which is granting local police the opportunity to go into private homes in order to enforce penalities for alleged underage drinking,” he said.
   In 2000, the state Legislature allowed municipalities to prohibit underage drinking on private property, according to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence — New Jersey. The law, however, carved out exceptions for those drinking in connection with a religious ritual or if a parent, guardian or relative is present and gives permission.
   If the Princeton Council were to pass the ordinance, police would be allowed to enter private property — so long as they have probable cause — and can charge underage drinkers with violating the ordinance.
   Fines start at $250 and escalate to $350 for repeat offenders; there is also a possible 6-month loss of driving privileges — the standard penalties.
   Offenders would not have a criminal record, Ms. Sprechman said Tuesday.
   Officials cited scenarios where that underage drinking is apt to occur, like at a house party when the parents are away. Mr. Martindell said he might have been willing to support a no-drinking on private property ordinance if it had only included areas where there are college dorms and student eating clubs. Back in 2007, the borough sought to crack down on underage drinking at Princeton University student eating clubs after three teenagers had to be hospitalized after imbibing.
   Ms. Sprechman said there is a bill in the Legislature that would outlaw underage drinking on private property, although the measure is in committee. State law already prohibits someone under 21 from drinking or possession alcohol in public.Last year, borough police made 43 arrests for underage possession of alcohol, Princeton police Capt. Nicholas K. Sutter said Tuesday.