Articles Tagged with minors

In lieu of the start of the school year for many college and school-aged students, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office in Northern California has received a $50,000 grant from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (“ABC”) for programs to combat underage drinking and alcohol sales to minors. The Roseville Police Department will participate in the grant, assisting the Sheriff’s office in providing training regarding alcohol-related crimes and their effects for school staff members, parents, students, and the community. The Sheriff’s Office plans to target ABC licensed stores that sell alcoholic beverages to minors and obviously intoxicated adult patrons. Minor-decoy and shoulder-tap operations also will be conducted countywide in an effort to reduce minors’ access to alcohol.

Counties throughout the state are cracking down on alcohol sales to minors.  Earlier this summer, an undercover operation across the state called Operation “Shoulder Tap” led to the arrest or citation of over 400 people in San Diego for purchasing alcohol for a minor.

Minors in Possession of Alcohol

Late last week, California’s 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that Proposition 47 – the voter-approved measure that reclassifies certain petty crimes from felonies to misdemeanors – applies to minors in the same way it does to adults. It has been found in the past that Prop. 47 caused a noticeable drop in California’s incarceration rate. In light of this ruling, juvenile defendants charged with particular crimes previously classified as felonies should now only face misdemeanor charges, and some juvenile offenders may be able to have their prior felony convictions retroactively changed to misdemeanor convictions.

Background on Proposition 47

Proposition 47, the “Reduced Penalties for Some Crimes Initiative,” was approved by California voters last November. Unless a defendant has prior convictions for particular violent or gun-related crimes, Proposition 47 mandates that he or she be sentenced to a misdemeanor instead of a felony for the following seven petty crimes:

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