Can a lawyer help me if I get caught selling alcohol to minors?

The laws in each state may vary on how they prosecute the crime of selling alcohol to minors. All states throughout the nation require an individual to be age 21 or over before they can legally purchase any type of alcoholic beverage. The twenty-first amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives the authority to each state on how they regulate selling and distributing alcohol within their borders.

Possible Penalties For a Criminal Conviction

Obtaining a liquor license is both costly and difficult to obtain for many business owners. Most restaurants find that they are only able to obtain a license for beer and wine, prohibiting them from selling hard liquor. The states with the harshest penalties include New Jersey, Texas and California and those with the least penalties are Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Montana. The laws distinguish between the party who actually sold alcohol to a minor, which are:

• The person who owns the license—A bar, restaurant or tavern owner who has a legal license to sell alcohol to the public is responsible for ensuring that all of their employees adhere to the state guidelines when serving liquor. Employees are required to check the identification of each individual to make sure they are of legal age. When the licensee fails to enforce the laws, they may be found guilty and fined accordingly with the potential of losing their liquor license altogether.

• Bartenders, Servers & Store Clerks—Those who sell alcohol to the public must check the identification of any individual purchasing liquor. Once a source of identification is presented showing that the person is over 21 years of age, then they cannot be held responsible. However, the id presented must be realistic, and not be obviously false in nature; i.e. presenting an id of a white person when the person purchasing alcohol is actually of a different race.

How a Defense Lawyer Can Help Your Case

Whenever a person is charged with a crime, they may face severe consequences for their actions. Sometimes business owners may be held liable for something an employee did which may not seem fair. That’s why it’s important to hire a criminal defense attorney to represent you when doing battle with the prosecuting attorney.