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Bostonist has been known to stagger down the streets of the city around 2 a.m. drunk as a skunk. Sure if you see a cop, you pretend to walk sober, which pretty much looks like you're drunk. With a push from Councilor Rob Consalvo, the city council just passed a bill, with a unanimous 13-0 vote, to put those intoxicated folks into the good ol' drunk tank, where you can sleep off your boozing under the watchful eye of police.
While Councilor Consalvo had originally proposed the ordinance to focus specifically on drunk drivers, the bill was expanded to pedestrians as well. Now, police will not be circling the city looking for drunks; they will only be focusing on those that are "incapacitated" (unconscious, need medical attention, disorderly, or likely to cause physical harm or property damage). The way the law stands now, each Massachusetts town has the option of the drunk tank, but with this new bill passed, it will be mandatory if you fail a sobriety test (alcohol level .08 and higher).
So if you wake up one morning with a hell of a hangover in the tank, don't fret...no criminal charges will be held over your pounding head. One question though: do the police at least provide you with some greasy food and an Advil the next morning?
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia
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But remember (says your friendly neighborhood lawyer): Being drunk, per se, is not illegal, so if you're not driving a car or otherwise making a scene, the cops don't have probable cause to make you take a breathalyzer test. So if you're stumbling home (a la Katie, apparently), don't take the breathalyzer unless you want to sleep it off in the pokey.
I love having a friendly neighborhood lawyer looking after my stumbling self and the rest of the Bostonist clan...
while being drunk and walking around might not be illegal per se, i can think that if the cops really wanted to, they could easily find some way to compel you to take a breathalyzer, whether it's technically legal or not. cops are fun like that.
i can't imagine cops wanting to waste their time doing this with anyone but the drunkest people sleeping on the street, though, but who knows.