Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in New York

Children Drinking at home

My son asked to have a party at our house in which alchohol was going to be present. My wife and I agreed so long as every one gave up thier car keys.My neighbor camplained and the police showed up.I let him in and he proceeded to ask the kids if they were drinking. My question is did he have the right to do this and give my wife and I an appearance ticket. The kids involved never left the confines of the house and all were taken safely home.The party was confined to the basement and the only driving was parents dropping thier kids off or later picking them up.None of the parents filed a complaint.


Asked on 10/15/05, 12:55 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Jay Dinerstein Dinerstein & Lesser, P.C.

Jeopardizing Children

While I am not a criminal defense attorney, my immediate reaction is that by permitting the police into your home they had a right, if not a duty, to act on whatever they observed. If the police saw liquor being served to underage children you are not dealing with a civil rights issue but, rather, concerns overe the welfare of children. The nature of your question presupposes that the children drinking alchohol were "underage" and, therefore, you were functionally corrupting the children.

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Answered on 12/31/69, 7:00 pm


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