{"id":628,"date":"2016-01-04T19:00:19","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T19:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/razumichlaw.com\/?p=628"},"modified":"2023-08-11T04:41:32","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T04:41:32","slug":"when-does-being-drunk-in-public-become-public-intoxication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/2016\/01\/04\/when-does-being-drunk-in-public-become-public-intoxication\/","title":{"rendered":"When Does \u201cBeing Drunk in Public\u201d Become Public Intoxication?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drunk in public becoming public intoxication<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyone who has dined in a restaurant or enjoyed a few drinks in a bar has probably seen someone who indulged in alcohol a little too much. Perhaps you have even seen a patron become a bit too loud or even belligerent.<\/p>\n

In Indiana, as of 2012<\/a>, it is not a crime to be intoxicated in public. It is, however, a crime to be drunk (or under the influence of drugs) in public and threatens someone\u2019s life (or your own). It is also a crime to be drunk and breach the peace or harass, alarm, or annoy someone. If you think this sounds somewhat vague, you are not alone. In 2014, an Indiana Court of Appeals struck down the \u201cannoy\u201d part of the public intoxication statute, stating it was unconstitutionally vague.<\/p>\n

The court agreed<\/a> with the appellant \u2013 a police officer who had been arrested while off duty for being drunk in a public bus stop \u2013 that \u201cthe term \u2018annoys\u2019 criminalizes behavior depending on the subjective sensitivities of each individual, and it fails to provide sufficiently definite warning as to the proscribed conduct when measured by common understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court also said that section of the public intoxication statute \u201cenables arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement because the illegality of the conduct\u2026 is based solely on the subjective feelings of a particular person at any given time.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Supreme Court Upholds \u2018Annoys\u2019<\/span><\/h3>
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