Draconian character of philanthropic legislation, cont’d:

The Virginia Court of Appeals upheld yesterday the convictions of an Albemarle County couple sentenced to 27 months in jail for providing alcohol at their son’s 16th birthday in August 2002.

George and Elisa Robinson were sentenced originally in Albemarle Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court to eight years in prison but received the lesser terms after they appealed to Circuit Court….

The Robinsons have acknowledged a mistake in judgment but said they decided to provide alcohol in a safe environment to make sure that no one at the party would be driving under the influence of alcohol.

Cops had entered the couple’s property without a warrant; according to the Richmond paper, no sentence as high as 90 days had previously been handed down locally for a similar offense. (Alan Cooper, “Court upholds couple’s sentence”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 18). Radley Balko has more (May 27).

Filed under: alcohol, crime and punishment