Owners of businesses licensed to sell alcohol have long complained about a law enforcement reality they say, with some justification, is unfair: when an employee breaks the law by selling alcohol to someone who is not of legal drinking age, the employer is the one who is subject to punishment.
There is a measure of justification. People licensed to sell alcohol, a recreational intoxicant, are entrusted with a high level of responsibility. Part of that responsibility includes making sure the people hired to conduct the transactions are of good character and worthy of likewise being entrusted with a high level of responsibility.
The Harford County Liquor Control Board, however, has seen fit to institute another level of punishment by calling for the issuance of citations to servers when police stings are conducted.
The law that allows for the citations to be issued already is on the books, as it has long been illegal to furnish alcohol to someone who is not of legal drinking age. The liquor board's focus, however, has primarily been on administrative regulation of the licensed businesses, not on the enforcement of other laws.
The board has decided to change that. When undercover stings are conducted going forward, not only will license holders be subject to penalties meted out by the liquor board, servers also will be issued citations by police that could result in hefty personal fines or even jail time.
It's a perfectly reasonable approach on the part of the liquor board. The police are already there during the sting operations. More importantly, servers are as much obliged to comply with the law as anyone else. While the license holders who hire them have a responsibility, it is reasonable for the liquor board to expect the servers also to be responsible.
Hopefully, the result will be more vigilance with regard to the sale of alcohol to people who are not of legal age.