What is the Social Host Law?

Answer 1

Before defining Social Host Laws, we need to answer who is a Social Host?You are a Social Host if you permit drinking in your residence or place of business. That's neither bad nor good, by itself. There are different laws governing your actions depending on the age of your guests.

If your guests are adults ages 21 and older, each jurisdiction may have laws determining your liability if any of your adult guests has too much to drink and injures him/herself or others, on your property or off, in a car or not. As the Social Host, you may be criminally or civilly liable for if your guest is injured, or you may be civilly liable for any injury or death of a third party, and any property damage, if your guest causes the damage, the injury or death.

If your guests are under 21 years old, the Social Host's liability may be more serious. You are a Social Host if you permit minors to drink in your residence or place of business. While it is illegal for anyone to purchase, serve or provide alcohol to underage drinkers, being a Social Host is prohibited as well by most jurisdictions. Depending on your area's specific law, even minors may be liable for being a Social Host to other minors.

What are Social Host Laws (SHLs) or Social Host Ordinances (SHOs)?They're a wide-ranging -- and often confusing -- group of criminal and civil laws aimed at the people (the host) who control the location (house, apartment, business, fraternity house) where underage drinking has occurred. Usually it's a law targeting inaction or passivity, when the host is aware that minors are drinking but doesn't try to stop them.

Being a Social Host is often confused with giving teens alcohol. That's called furnishing -- meaning to actively provide, serve or purchase -- alcohol for minors. Every state criminalizes furnishing teens with alcohol. Not every state considers being a Social Host a criminal act, or even a negligent one.

Your area may not have a specific Social Host Law. Instead, they may have added a clause to the existing furnishing alcohol to minors law prohibiting "permitting" or "allowing" minors to drink.

There are good national sources for learning more about the relevant laws in your area.

APIS (Alcohol Policy Information Systems) - Profiles of Underage Drinking Laws http://www.alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/state_profiles_of_underage_drinking_laws.html. A project of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism, they are the best place to start. Be aware though their data is updated annually (January 1, 2011 is the current date) and therefore may be out-of-date.

Underage Drinking & the Law - http://socialhostlaw.com/social-host-laws-by-state

A volunteer effort to provide an up-to-the minute nation-wide clearinghouse of information on Social Host Laws and general underage drinking laws. It offers articles on what's happening nationally and a section that updates both existing and pending legislation weekly. The link is to the most recent laws by state.

Answer 2

See What is the Social Host Law? What_is_the_Social_Host_Law