|
>The school isn't trying to enfore laws. They are trying to >legislate morality. It's not against the law for someone over the >age of 21 to purchase or consume alcohol, UNLESS you are >Greek. What law is someone breaking if they are over 21 and >they have a keg at a private off campus residence?
They are breaking North Carolina law if they:
Provide alcohol to an individual under 21
or
Provide alcohol to anyone of any age who is "noticeably intoxicated"
Plus, they are legally responsible and liable for the safety of any guest of any age to whom they provide alcohol (like the wasted guy who fell out of a window in the KS dorm section during the probation period). The host of the party has the legal burden to determine who is over 21 and to prevent underage individuals from drinking. What's more, there's absolute liability -- a good-faith belief that someone was over 21 doesn't excuse the host from liability.
The majority of fraternity members at colleges with traditional student populations, like Duke, are under 21. The overwhelming majority of pledges at these colleges are under 21. If I am mistaken in my assumption that the Kappa Sigma pledge who was hospitalized was under 21, and in my further assumption that that pledge wasn't the only underage student who ever had a beer at a Kappa Sigma event, then I hope a Duke student will correct me. If I'm not mistaken, then the individuals involved broke the law, and their fraternity membership has nothing to do with it.
The law is excessive. The law does not make allowances for responsible alcohol use that it ought to make. But we need to take that up with the North Carolina legislature.
Ivy
|