Underage drinking in the state of NJ

[electricdruid]

Hi guys!

First time poster here. Sorry if this is long winded or incoherent.

I dunno if any of you are in NJ or familiar with current NJ law, but maybe you can help me out anyway. My mother and I have a problem with our neighbors. Often on Friday or Saturday nights the kids and their friends throw parties (I'm not sure of exact ages, but I know one

Comments

[y2jdingo]

Disclaimer: Not a cop, not posing as a cop. Just further linkage for OP to look into.

Wikipedia says NJ has a location exception to 21-drinking-age. The original site the chart came from is down for me.

Another page in Wiki also says there's no law against consumption on private property.

[electricdruid]

Interesting, thank you :)

[annamarie326]

Unrelatedish - but couldn't you request that they be charged with a noise violation? Im sure Virginia isn't the same as jersey but at least here 1st noise vio is a warning, second one is a ticket, and third one someone gets to get carted to jail and explain why they're an obnoxious noise machine :)

[electricdruid]

I'm not sure exactly what that involves as we've never done anything like this before. Is it different from filing a complaint?

[sarcasticmaster]

(Not a cop either, but NJ college-town based)

While not a big partier/drinker personally, my broseph was in his heyday, and calling in noise violations ends parties rather well. You'd have to look into your particular town's noise ordinances, but I'm sure there's something you can work with there.

[sarcasticmaster]

And, uh, here's what looks like a pretty good eHow article on the subject.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2157562_file-noise-complaint.html

[azhdragon]

(still not a cop)

in the meantime, you could look into using the type of foam earplugs that are sold for people who work with loud machinery.

many years ago I lived in a place with neighbours whose idea of a good time was to crank up the karaoke machine and give the microphone to their pre-school aged children. After the kiddies went to bed between 10 and 11, the adults would start. All in an Asian language, I might add.

If I went over to ask them to turn it down, suddenly they couldn't understand english. I called the cops a few times, and if anything it made it worse.

so I learned to sleep with earplugs in.

[electricdruid]

Hmm, my boyfriend actually has a bunch of those laying around for concert use. I've found them to be extremely uncomfortable after a while but they're definitely worth a try. Thanks :)

Undergae Drinking Legal in New Jersey

[dwainwr]

What the first police officer told you is basically correct. State law prohibits individuals under the age of 21 from purchasing alcohol or consuming it in an area of public accomodation (e.g., sidewalk, store, restaurant). There is no state law against underage consumption at a private residence.

However, individual towns may ban underage consumption at private residences, insofar as they allow parents to serve alcohol to their own children (not other people's children). It is possible that in your town it is legal for teenagers to drink on private property, while in the neighboring town, it could be illegal.

Re: Undergae Drinking Legal in New Jersey

[electricdruid]

That's very helpful I had no idea individual towns could make those sorts of laws, but I guess I can't see why not. Thank you!

Re: Underage Drinking Legal in New Jersey

[dwainwr]

Until about ten years ago, municipalities could not make laws about underage drinking on private property. Municiplaities were complaining of teen parties where the parents went away, the kids held a party with a huge amount of teenage drinking, and that it was perfectly legal. The legislature passed a bill to ban underage drinking on private property statewide (with a parental exception).

Governor Christine Whitman vetoed the bill saying that it was too instrusive because it would make it illegal for a relative or friend of the family to give someone under 21 a drink. The legislature and Whitman came to a compromise where there would be no state law regarding underage drinking on private property, but municipalities could ban it, as long as there is an exception for parents and relatives, and the punishments were less severe.

Re: Underage Drinking Legal in New Jersey

[electricdruid]

Fascinating! Thank you so much for the info :)