What exactly does this mean?
I know that kids go into the Moose's Tooth all the time. I'd just sent a 16 year old off by himself to find the bathroom. How does a minor become "in violation of the law"? I had no idea. I asked the cashier who came out to look at the sign. She didn't know either. We guessed at what it might mean, but we had no way of being sure.It seems to me that if the State wants to prevent something from happening, they should tell us what exactly what we shouldn't do in clear language. I called the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board yesterday, but they haven't called back. There website does have an FAQ page, but on my computer at least, I could only find the questions, but not the answers.
[Update: Someone from the ABC called shortly after I posted this. Here's the story:
1. They use the same sign at lots of different places, including bars where people under 21 are not allowed on the premises. But Moose's Tooth is a restaurant and bar where kids are allowed. So here it would mean that people under 21 aren't allowed to order beer or use false id's.
2. The FAQ page actually does work. On my browser the cursor doesn't turn into a little hand and so I didn't click on the questions. But when you click, they show the answers.]
Legal Age and Identification
What is the legal drinking age in Alaska?What is the minimum age for sellers/servers of alcoholic beverages?Under what circumstances can an underage person be present on licensed premises?Are there any exceptions to this rule?May underage persons employed on licensed premises clean tables that have containers with unconsumed portions of alcoholic beverages?Are there any situations when an underage persons can legally possess and consume alcoholic beverages?Can an underage person possess and consume non-alcoholic beer or wine?When should a licensee or licensee's employee or agent ask to see identification?What is "valid" identification?What are the penalties if an under age person attempts to use false id to enter licensed premises and purchase alcoholic beverages?
In the meantime, if anyone knows or a guess, leave a comment.
I'll post an update when they get back to me.
the answers are embedded. click on a question to see the answer
ReplyDeleteQ: Under what circumstances can an underage person be present on licensed premises?
A: Persons under the age of 21 may not enter or remain on licensed premises unless accompanied by a parent, legal guardian or spouse over the age of 21 years. Not withstanding this rule licensees may exclude underage persons from licensed premises at any time.
Q: Are there any exceptions to this rule?
A: Yes, there are four exceptions:
1)Persons 18, 19 and 20 years of age may work on the licensed premises of hotels and restaurants but may not sell serve or deliver alcoholic beverages.
2)Persons 16 and 17 years of age may be employed on the licensed premises of businesses the board has designated as "bona fide" restaurants with the written consent of their parent or legal guardian and an exemption certificate from the department of labor, but may not sell serve or deliver alcoholic beverages.
3) Persons 16 years of age and above may enter licensed premises of businesses the board has designated as bona fide restaurants for the purpose of dining only.
4) Persons under the age of 16 may enter licensed premises of businesses the board has designated as "bona fide" restaurants for the purpose of dining only accompanied by a person over the age of 21 years with the consent of the underage persons parent.
Thanks Skyotter, as I just posted in the update, on Firefox on a my Macbook, the cursor doesn't do the normal change to a hand to indicate that I can link. But, yes, they do show the answers if you click on them.
ReplyDeleteTo read the statute: http://touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/statutes/title04/chapter16/section049.htm
ReplyDeleteI guess they put the statute in there so people can look it up themselves.
There is also an Alaska.gov website for looking up statutes, but I prefer the Alaska Legal Center. I use the .gov site if I want to look up session laws.
Don't you have federal law for that? In Hungary we have counties for 1000 with smaller-bigger modifications but since the late 19th century, laws have been centralised and since that in the entire country we have almost the same laws. There are differences in local decrees only.
ReplyDeleteRopi, The 10th Amendment to the US Constitution says:
ReplyDeleteAmendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Interesting use of legalese--especially when nobody knows what the hell is being claimed illegal. And if they know, who's going to enforce it anyway?
ReplyDeleteSo basicly Alaska does whatever she wants until these acts doesn't harm the constitution, right?
ReplyDeleteRopi, the Constitution lists the responsibilities of the Federal Government. Everything else is left to the States to decide.
ReplyDeleteOr you could just go to a site that has the Alaska Statutes listed and read the details surrounding it...
ReplyDeletehttp://touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title04/Chapter16/Section049.htm
You also would to look up the legislative amendments surrounding the statutory law which I will not post a link to here because I'll save all the headache of wading through that morass. Basically what it comes down to is that restaurants that also serve alcohol are required to have all people of less than legal age off the premises by no later than 9PM. If they violate that provision and are caught they are subject to a $1000 fine.
At least that's my understanding... hope that helps.
-Laz (of OMFGAlaska, who is not a lawyer by the way but who sometimes has to play the role of something similar in my day job as Litigation Support)