It's been happening every year lately: Word spreads among students
that a particular bar is easy to get into if you're under the
legal drinking age (21). The bar is raided. Law enforcement personnel
discover scores of underage students inside holding fake IDs.
The bar is forced to close or give up its liquor license as punishment.
Another massive raid happened at a bar near campus in January,
except this time the bar is fighting back - against students.
A raid at The Boat Club on North Hill Street in South Bend found
more than 200 minors inside, most of them Notre Dame and Saint
Mary's students. In cases involving so many violations, the Indiana
Alcohol and Tobacco Commission typically orders the bar's owner
to surrender the liquor license or sell the business.
While waiting to see if the same fate awaits The Boat Club,
however, the company that operates the bar, Millennium Club Inc.,
is suing the cited minors in small-claims court. The lawsuits
argue that the minors are to blame for the business's demise because
they misrepresented themselves and should therefore be compelled
to compensate the owner. The suits ask for $3,000 in damages from
each student.
A University official familiar with the case said he hadn't
heard of this tactic being tried in connection with a local bar
bust before. The argument has apparently been made in cases elsewhere,
however, with the courts generally not buying it.
Were the courts to agree with the bar's owner, the possibility
future legal action might discourage underage students from trying
to get into bars using fake IDs. But it could also act as an insurance
policy for unscrupulous bar owners and become an incentive to
allow underage drinking.
According to Ed Sullivan, a local attorney retained by 40 Notre
Dame and Saint Mary's students, hearing dates on the lawsuits
have been set for August. But these probably won't go forward
because the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission is not expected
to have resolved its case against the bar owner by then. The
court isn't likely to listen to arguments for damages until the
bar can show what damages it has suffered.
A phone call to the attorney representing the bar's owner seeking
comment was not returned.
In a separate matter, in late April law enforcement officers
raided The Library Irish Pub on East Wayne Street in downtown
South Bend and issued citations to dozens more patrons for underage
drinking and possession of fake IDs. In October 2000, they raided
the same address, when it was known as Finnegan's Irish Pub, and
issued 147 citations. Because of the incident, the bar's owners
were forced to sell Finnegan's and the bar was renamed.
(July 2003)
