Senate Bill S2334

                                BILL NUMBER:S2334

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the general obligations law, in
relation to compensation for injury caused by the illegal sale of
alcoholic beverages to a person under the age of twenty-one years

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:  Extends dram shop liability to cover
persons who knowingly sell numerous false identifications to persons
less than 21 years of age.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1: adds a new paragraph (b) to section 11-100(1) of the
General Obligations Law providing that any third party injured as the
result of the intoxication or impairment of ability of any person
under the age of 21 years shall have a right of action against any
person or entity that produced or sold more than ten false
identifications to minors which were used to obtain or procure
alcoholic beverages that led to the intoxication of the individual
causing the injury.

Under proposed section 11-100 (1) (b), specific knowledge by the
producer and seller of the fake identification that the minor procured
alcoholic beverages with the identification is not necessary, as it is
reasonably expected that when an identification is sold
misrepresenting a minor's age, it could be used for illegal purposes.
              

Case law has interpreted previous application of section 11-100 to
require that the defendant had awareness of and authorized the
consumption of alcohol by minors. The new section 11-100 (1) (a) will
still be applied in the same way. However, new section 11-100 (1) (b)
clarifies that there is no knowledge requirement.

Section 2: creates an affirmative defense for a seller of an
identification card which stated an age over twenty-one who has
scanned and relied upon an apparent government identification card
which stated that the recipient was twenty-one or older.

JUSTIFICATION:  Despite significant progress over the past 20 years,
underage drinking is a complex problem that persists in communities
across the nation.  The battle to restrict access to alcohol by those
under the legal purchase age must be fought on many fronts, including
holding those who assist knowingly AND presumptively in the
procurement of alcoholic beverages to minors civilly liable.

The Dram Shop Act provides a cause of action against any person who
unlawfully sells or assists in procuring alcohol for an intoxicated
person or a person under the age of twenty-one. The sale of alcohol to
any person visibly intoxicated or any person under twenty-one is
prohibited, as is knowingly causing the intoxication of a person under
twenty-one by furnishing or assisting in the procurement of the
alcoholic beverage. Forty-two states and the District of Columbia have
Dram Shop laws.

Under New York's General Obligations Law 11-100, one of the Dram Shop
laws, if someone is injured by an intoxicated minor, the injured
victim has a right to bring a lawsuit against the person who caused or


contributed to the intoxication of the minor by unlawfully selling to,
or assisting in the procuring of liquor for, the minor. In order to be
held liable, the procurer of the alcohol must have known, or had
reasonable cause to believe, that the person he was providing the
alcoholic drink to was under the age of 21.

It is only reasonable that the state extend responsibility for the
damages caused by underage intoxicants on those who profited from the
sale of the identification that enabled them to buy the alcohol. In
these cases, the producer and seller of the fake identification plays
an indispensable role in making the alcohol available to the
under-aged person. until now, Courts have refused to hold the producer
and/or seller of the fake identification liable under Dram Shop laws.
In Etu v. Cumberland Farms, 148 A.D. 2d 821 (1989), the Third
Department held that the Spencer Gifts retail chain was not
responsible when a 15 year-old boy purchased a do-it-yourself fake ID
kit and used the ID he made to purchase beer. After becoming
intoxicated, he stole a car and died in a one-car accident. The Court
ruled that the company's behavior did not meet the state's narrow
definition of unlawfully furnishing or assisting in procuring alcohol
under the Dram Shop laws.

The proposed legislation would amend section 11-100 to provide a right
of action by an injured party against any person selling more than ten
false identification to minors which are subsequently used to obtain
alcohol. As the purveyors of false identifications are less proximate
to the incident, the ten identification threshold will ensure that
only those who clearly know of their wrong actions and have a high
probability of creating injury will be liable.

It also creates an affirmative defense for the sellers who honestly
believe that the purchaser is over the age of twenty-one by relying
upon and scanning a government-issued photo identification. This
narrows the scope of liability and further ensures that the law is
targeted to those who know they axe selling to minors who intend to
act unlawfully.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:  2012 - S.1025-A - Referred to Judiciary
2010 - S.1871 - Referred to Judiciary 2008 - S.6528 - Referred to
Judiciary

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:  None to the State.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  This act shall take effect on the first of January
next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.