Coakley Rules No Fines for Public Drinking
Measure ratified by the 2011 Town Meeting shot down by the Attorney General.
The state Attorney General's office has officially shot down a proposal ratified at the Mansfield spring town meeting that would levy a fine on anyone taken into protective custody for drunkenness in a public place. The $200 fine was designed to help the town recoup the cost of transporting, processing and often cleaning up after hundreds of heavily inebriated people every year, many of them underage patrons of Comcast Center concerts. It was also expected to make a lasting impression on heavy drinkers at concerts, many of whom must be bailed out by parents. The passage of the town meeting article followed a similar move by nearby Foxborough, where the presence of Gillette Stadium creates even more trips to and from the station and …
In this Article:
Dick Armour
8:55 am on Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Alcohol is an anti-anxiety disinhibitor. It anesthetizes fear. Those who drink the most and the most often are the most afraid. Drunkedness was once seen for what it is and it was stigmitized as a result. It has unfortunately at times evolved into an excuse for irresponsibility. Prohibition was not a failure of the drunks, but a failure by those trying to control them. Any recovered person can … more ›