Hmmmm...my link (which I posted) doesn't link to a subscriber's only page. Weird. Here's the article:
Lawmakers to review bar busts
Public floods TABC with e-mails; legislators to review program
08:53 AM CST on Saturday, March 25, 2006
By PETE SLOVER / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Public intoxication busts of bar patrons by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission elicited a blast of indignant – even vicious – e-mails and calls from citizens Friday – to the agency, to journalists, and to elected officials who pledged to look into the arrests.
"I'm getting all those same e-mails, the Nazi, Taliban, Gestapo e-mails," said commission spokeswoman Carolyn Beck. "I don't really understand the hateful outrage. I don't understand, 'Die in a fire.' "
That e-mail traffic came after news reports about a stepped-up liquor-law enforcement program that has included arrests this month of patrons sitting drinking at establishments in Irving. Among those arrested was an Arkansas man who drank several beers at a hotel restaurant before he retired for the night to his room in the same hotel.
Ms. Beck said the arrests are part of a larger effort to rein in people who could be a danger to themselves or others – especially by driving drunk. In the six months ending in February, the agency issued 2,281 criminal citations, nearly double the amount for the same period the previous year.
Legislators who oversee the commission said they generally agreed with the agency's increased emphasis on public safety, including the attempt to nab potential drunken drivers early. That's why lawmakers gave the commission more than 100 new employees.
The commission was up for a periodic legislative review last year, meaning it would be eliminated if it wasn't explicitly approved by the Legislature. A complex bill to overhaul the agency and alcohol rules eventually failed, and the commission's life was extended for two years, with the understanding that its fate would be reconsidered in 2007.
But, the lawmakers said, accounts of the arrests suggest the enforcement program should be reviewed before next year, both to check for abuses and to measure its effectiveness. Even if the busts are legal, the question is whether they are the best use of the commission's resources, several said.
"Somebody hanging around the hotel, a little stumbling on the way to their room? I don't think that was what we were focusing on," said Rep. Peggy Hamric, R-Houston, who authored the proposed rewrite of the statute authorizing the agency.
Rep. Kino Flores, chairman of the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures, said he plans to call a meeting next month to examine the alcohol commission's work.
"We're looking at it and we're going to be looking at it: Are we going too far, or do we need to go further?" the Mission Democrat said.
Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, was instrumental in getting the increased staffing, as a member of both the powerful Senate Finance Committee and the Criminal Justice Committee, which oversees the alcohol commission.
Although he agreed hearings are merited, he defended the principle of in-bar citations.
"Even though a public drunk is not planning on driving, that could change in an instant," he said. "There is certainly potential danger."
Mr. Whitmire said lawmakers should examine whether the agency, which is funded by fees it collects, is motivated to stricter enforcement by fiscal concerns.
Sen. Chris Harris, a Republican whose district includes Irving, called the arrests in his area "very questionable."
"At first, I was generally totally in agreement with them," he said. "But there are too many stories that demonstrate an abuse of power."
He also questioned the agency's judgment in sending him and other lawmakers lengthy list of media "talking points" Friday, in an e-mail from the commission administrator, Alan Steen.
The senator's displeasure at that perceived breach of protocol was made clear in his reply to Mr. Steen, a one-sentence e-mail that read: "WHO IN THE DAMN HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"
Texas Restaurant Association officials have declined to comment on the enforcement actions. But the executive director of a national restaurant trade group Friday termed the sweeps "neo-prohibitionism," which he blamed on the Irving-based group Mothers Against Drunk Driving. MADD issued a statement supporting the alcohol commission's efforts.
Mr. Harris said he questions the underlying public intoxication statute, especially provisions that give officers discretion to declare a person drunk without any breathalyzer or objective tests.
Commission officials noted that being drunk in public is against the law and that any place licensed to serve booze is, by law, a public place – including restaurants in dry areas that sell so-called private memberships to let patrons drink.
"We can't ignore somebody who's obviously breaking the law," Ms. Beck said.
E-mail [email protected]
