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News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

Party hearty

Huh. Something I did not know about Indiana law:

It's likely that Super Bowl XLVI revelers Downtown will be able to carry open alcoholic drinks outside the bars where they bought them when festivities rev up on Jan. 27.

But law enforcement officials said that won't be a relaxation of state liquor laws; customers already are allowed to leave a bar with their drinks.

"There is no restriction on the open carrying of alcohol in public spaces," said Travis Thickstun, a corporal with the Indiana State Excise Police.

That might surprise anyone who has had a night on the town in Broad Ripple or on Mass Ave. Often, customers are stopped by a doorman who tells them it's against the law to leave with the beverage.

But actually, it's just a policy they put in place.

Well, good for us. Preventing people from leaving the bar with their drinks comes  comes under the heading of banning acceptable behavior because it might lead to unapproved behavior, i.e. public drunkenness. We already do this bans on having open liquor in a moving car. Focus the law on effects, not causes.

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