Minor Incident

So Johnny Manziel walks into a bar...

...seriously, he does - or, did. The Heisman trophy recipient was seen in an Uptown bar in Dallas celebrating the way that, well, adults usually do. Not surprisingly, the event caused quite a bit of controversy around the nation, but only until people were reminded that in Texas, this is actually okay.

Texas, having the anomalous little state government that it does, actually does allow minors to consume alcohol in an alcohol-serving establishment as long as their guardian is present. Chapter 106 of The Alcoholic Beverage Code states that as long as the minor's adult parent, court-appointed guardian, or legal-age spouse is 'visibly present', the minor is free to imbibe provided the bar doesn't turn him or her away, first. Here is an excerpt of Section 106.6 from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code:

(b) A person may purchase an alcoholic beverage for or give an alcoholic beverage to a minor if he is the minor's adult parent, guardian, or spouse, or an adult in whose custody the minor has been committed by a court, and he is visibly present when the minor possesses or consumes the alcoholic beverage.

Well how old does the minor have to be? 18? 16 - which is old enough to drive (hopefully not afterward)? Texas actually does not have a very specific definition of a minor in this case. As far as anyone can tell, 'minor' simply means a person who is only under 21. That's it.

You may ask, "don't bars have age restrictions concerning who is allowed to enter the establishment?", and they do; however, they aren't enforced as rigorously as you might think. These restrictions are not actually 'laws' prohibiting patrons under 18 or 21 years of age from going inside the bar; instead, these rules function as more of a marketing decision rather than something that's actually enforced by the TABC (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission).

Obviously there was speculation that the only reason that Manziel was allowed the privilege of underage drinking was because of his prodigious athletic achievement, but people were quick to discover that Manziel was operating well within his rights as dictated by the State of Texas. People are also wondering if this very public case-study in alcohol law will lead to an increased number of underage drinkers in public locations. Although this is a definite possibility, I think that most minors' desire to drink alcohol at a bar is not as strong as their desire to avoid being seen with their parents in public.

So, yes - provided a parent, guardian, or spouse is present...Johnny Manziel walks into a bar.