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Yet at the same time an officer cannot cite you for a alcoholic consumption in public without knowledge of what's in your brown bag- and has no right to search your bag as it is not a large parcel subject to search.
If you appear intoxicated, one has just cause- however too often are police overstretching their legal boundaries writing tickets based on guesswork.
I guess it would depend on your body chemistry but when I drink, you can smell it right away.
If the cops can smell it, it is probably enough to fall under probable cause to warrant a search.
I've had four open container tickets in the last three years. The tickets are only $25 and the officer will give you a sheet to fill out that you mail in with a check or money order - easy.
The way I see it.. That $100 has saved me about $500 from stopping in bars to have a drink while I was moving around the city.. so, it's no biggie.
i often see people drinking alcohol in brown bags so im wondering.
Back when I was younger I would do it when I was on my way to a club or bar to hang out with friends. The chances of getting caught are pretty small. But yeah it's not legal. The smarter play is to ditch the obvious brown bag and just put it in a juice or soda bottle...
A covered container is not generally justification for probably cause. Just sayin'
True, but if the cop is out to generate some easy revenue for the city all he/she need do is take a quick whiff of the suspect's breath. BAM! "Probable cause"! Now suddenly it doesn't matter that the container was out of sight. Or the cop can claim that the suspect was acting visibly intoxicated in public. BAM again!
I always thought putting it in a brown bag was probable cause. I mean, after all, what else would you randomly drink from a brown bag? It's one of those things where unless a cop has a quota they need to meet, it's tolerated as a traditional thing as long as you're not pissing all over the walls and being annoying.
This isn't too bad for the boozers. A weekend "pre-game" really oughtta be done BEFORE midnight anyway. After that hopefully you're AT a party (whether at a club, bar or someone's home/apt).
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida_boy
LIRR has a "trial" ban on alcoholic beverages on Fridays and Saturdays from 12 midnight until 5:00 a.m.
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