Authorizes the suspension of driver's licenses for unjustified failure to attend court on charge of underage possession of alcohol or to comply with court conditions after conviction for such offense

This measure would amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law and the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, to authorize a court to suspend a driver's license where the holder fails timely to appear before the court, pay a fine, complete an alcohol awareness program or complete community service associated with a charge of under-age possession of alcohol.

Years of judicial experience, and experience in the broader law enforcement and child-welfare communities, demonstrates that a charge of under-age possession of alcohol may be the first and best opportunity to avert more serious and potentially life-threatening alcohol-related offenses. When defendants less than age 21 are charged with under-age possession of alcohol with intent to consume under Alcoholic Beverage Control Law section 65-c, authorized sentences of completing alcohol awareness programs and community service offer potential judicial remedies to help deter drunk driving and other more serious offenses.

Unfortunately, many of these defendants ignore their appearance tickets or, if convicted, they ignore the very sentences calculated to discourage more serious offenses. Under current law, however, there is no practical redress: statute allows no other remedy besides contempt, which is a resource-intensive path that may lead to incarceration inapposite for these offenders. For that reason, underage defendants flaunt the law: many do so precisely because they know there is no negative consequence for ignoring the charge or sentence, which compounds their disrespect for the law and encourages further offenses. The Internet is rife with advice for teens that there is no negative consequence for ignoring appearance tickets or court-imposed penalties for underage drinking. Given these dynamics, it is little surprise that in some courts, the scoff rate on underage alcohol possession exceeds 30%. These dynamics particularly manifest after proms, concerts, festivals and other large gatherings of teens, which expose teens to not only alcohol but also the risk of drunk driving. Without remedies for alcohol-possession violations, too often the result is drunk driving, injuries and preventable deaths.

While fully cognizant that underage offenders are minors for whom our law must take an especially measured approach, New York State must address the perversion by which courts can do little or nothing when persons charged with underage possession of alcohol fail to appear or complete court-ordered sentences. Their impunity must stop not only to inculcate respect for the law and the courts generally, but also to help prevent more serious offenses and the risks to life that these more serious offenses entail.

Accordingly, this measure would authorize courts to suspend driving privileges for defendants charged with under-age possession of alcohol with intent to consume under Alcoholic Beverage Control Law section 65-c, who either do not appear in court or who are convicted and fail timely to satisfy their sentences. The suspension would be on the same terms of notice and delayed implementation as other suspensions under the Vehicle and Traffic Law. This limited approach, rather than proposing to increase penalties or expose these defendants to incarceration, seeks only to bring these defendants before the court to answer charges and honor sentences that are calculated to educate them and prevent potentially life-threatening behaviors. Because the most effective tool for the underage offender is to suspend driving privileges associated with the offender's maturity and independence, that result is the only one this measure contemplates.

This measure represents an amended version of S.3188 and A.5722 of 2012. Those prior measures also would have applied the license-suspension remedy to violations of Penal Law 221.05 (unlawful possession of marijuana). The current measure, by contrast, focuses exclusively on underage possession of alcohol with intent to consume.

This measure, which would have no fiscal impact on the State or any locality, would take effect on the first day of January next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.

Legislative History: None. New proposal.