Should people be held accountable for crimes if they are drunk?

Question

When people drink, they tend to do wild, reckless, and dangerous things. Alcohol is a mind-inhibithor, meaning that it affects your judgment, your self-control, etc. But should people be held accountable for crimes they commit when their judgment can't tell them not to? Should we instead charge them with alcoholism and nothing else?

Answer 1

Most of the time, they are charged with the crime. Being drunk is sometimes a defense to a higher-level offense, sometimes called "specific intent" crimes -- like burglary (entry of a dwelling with intent to commit a crime (or felony) therein). If I'm drunk and stumble through a house, I can argue that, even though I may have broken in, I didn't intend to commit any crime when I entered. It also might be an excuse for a high level murder charge, as alcohol may have prevented me from "premeditation" (depending upon the law in the particular state).

But for most crimes and in most states, being intoxicated is not an excuse. And it shouldn't be, because most of the time people have decided whether to get drunk, and most of the time people understand the consequences of getting so drunk that they cannot control themselves. While this may be an issue as to the appropriate _sentence_, it does not excuse a particular crime.

Answer 2

YES!!! Most defenitely. Yhey werent drunk when they started and they knew what the consequencies could be if they over induldge. The problem is the Law. Its not harsh enough. People can litterally get away with murder with just a slap on the wrist so to speak, I know as I have personly experienced a loss in my family. The person had a long history of driving while impaired no insurance had his driving licence suspended many times until finally one night he hit my niece while she was walking home with her sister from seeing a movie. He didnt even stop. Police caught him about a mile down the road passed out in the back of his Van . The police did a wonderful job collecting all the necessary evidance but the lawyer on his behalf used a little known law that is some eighty years old to get him off with 1000 hours of community work and a $1500.00 fine. My niece was 15 years old at the time.

Answer 3

Yes...people should be held accountable for their actions whether drunk or not. If a person cannot handle their liquor well, then they shouldn't be drinking in the first place. For those that do drink excessively, they need to be around people who will look out for them and try to make sure that nothing outrageous happens. Otherwise...just don't drink.

Answer 4

Yes, they should be held accountable since they have to be an adult to drink. Since they made the choice to drink, they have to be responsible for the behaviors they exhibit while under the influence.

Many people use the excuse of being drunk to do things they want to do, so later they can just say, oh yeah, I cheated on you, insulted you, wrecked the car doing donuts, etc. but I WAS DRUNK so it doesn't count.

Answer 5

They should absolutely, and by the way are, be held accountable. The use of alcohol should never be an acceptable excuse for the commission of a crime.

Answer 6

Yes. I think that people generally know that when they drink alcohol their judgement becomes impaired. If they know that then maybe they should make their decision not to get drunk in the first place. Especially if they have a history of getting reckless and violent when previously intoxicated.

Answer 7

Yes they should
if in the process that someone is killed it should be considered
premeditated murder.
In such cases as drunk-driving.

pre·med·i·tat·ed (prē-mĕd'ĭ-tā'tĭd)
adj.
Characterized by deliberate purpose, previous consideration, and some degree of planning: a premeditated crime.

When a person chooses to Drink and drive

When they take that first drink they are planning on driving home

Answer 8

their should be no accountability ,unless the poor sap was at work while he was intoxicated , If not , it,s his time off and he's probably trying to get rid of stress . Keep out of his way .His car and his ballcap should have an acohol activated red flashing warning light so you can safely pull over to the side of the road , like we allready do for those other guys . Easy and no learning curve folks

Answer 9

They should most certainly be held accountable for any and all crimes. Alcohol is just an excuse in most cases, and in the cases where they were really inebriated, they did that to themselves.

Answer 10

We also have free will. While some slack should be given on the first offense, all pity and sympathy goes out the window if the activity is a repeated on a regular basis.