Drinking Law Fireworks Still Smoldering

How did it reach the point where Joe and Susie Six-Pack are criminals for drinking a beer on their front lawn on the holiday that celebrates the nation’s freedom from tyranny?

Certainly, it’s regrettable that citizens face such consumptive restrictions, say city officials, but what else to do with crowds of 350,000 and a series of holiday riots that claimed one life, caused extensive property damage, and delivered a public relations black eye to the rollicking seaside community.

“Well, we’ve had our problems on the Fourth of July, to say the least,” explained Deputy City Atty. Sarah Lazarus, who helped draft several city ordinances that bar holiday drinking. “We had to do something.”

The most recent legal “something,” which was approved 4 to 3 by the City Council last month, bans drinking on public property and also on private property in the downtown area from noon Thursday to noon Sunday.

But the new ordinance, which is being applauded by downtown merchants and many locals weary of holiday disturbances, runs contrary to the spirit of the holiday, argue some council members.

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“I don’t think we need to be taking away people’s constitutional rights,” said Councilman Tom Harman, who was one of three council members to oppose the new ordinance. “Especially on the Fourth of July.”

“You have to balance the scales of justice so to speak,” added Harman, an attorney. “Should a person have the right to stand in their frontyard, drink a beer, and watch the fireworks six blocks away? I’m inclined to think that’s OK.”

A majority of city lawmakers, however, do not think so. In fact, last year, the council backed a stricter policy on drinking.

Broadening the interpretation of a long-standing ordinance, the City Council enacted a zero-tolerance policy on public drinking last Independence Day that allowed police to arrest people for drinking on their front porches or lawns. The effort succeeded in preventing a riot, but also resulted in more than 238 arrests for public drinking--a total some critics found excessive.

Four months later, a municipal judge dismissed charges against four of those defendants arrested for having an open beer container on private property. The judge ruled the policy was unconstitutionally vague in its definition of “public place.”

To address the glitch, the council passed an amendment to the ordinance outlawing drinking year-round, which applied even to property owners and their guests on unenclosed front lawns or open garages. Raised porches, balconies and fenced yards would be acceptable, according to this amendment.

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After a storm of protest that saw citizens quoting from the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, city officials limited the drinking ban to a three-day period around Independence Day.

“We had some constitutional concerns about a broad sweeping ban throughout the year,” Lazarus said. “But we feel much more comfortable with it in the problem areas and at the problem times. We feel this is legally defensible.”

Police, who were criticized by some for being overzealous in cracking down on holiday revelers last year, contend the new policy is vital for maintaining order at what is billed as the largest Fourth of July celebration west of the Mississippi River.

Despite criticism about its restrictiveness, city officials defend the concept behind their prohibition on outdoor drinking as a common legal tool. For instance, argues Lazarus, many cities wrote anti-cruising laws designed to suppress gang activity. Like Huntington Beach’s drinking ban, those laws are in effect only at certain times, and in certain areas, Lazarus said.

But critics reply the city’s new rules may be setting a precedent of dubious distinction.

“I’m not aware of another city with a law like this,” Harman said. “I guess this puts Huntington Beach on the cutting edge in curtailing public drunkenness and rioting.”