Iowa Court Upholds Right To Drink On Front Porch

Alex Buscemi10 years ago

Getting shitty on the front porch was a staple of my fraternity experience. We would break out the foldable chairs, grab a cooler and a pack of smokes, and post up for hours watching the girls jog by, and the daylight fade away. Luckily, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the right of its citizens to do just that.

When an Iowa woman was charged with public intoxication after getting ham and fighting with her boyfriend on the front steps, police charged her with public intoxication. She appealed, and the Supreme Court ruled last week that a front stoop is indeed a private place.

From KCCI News 8:

The Iowa Supreme Court has affirmed the right to be drunk on your front porch.

The court ruled Friday in the case of Patience Paye, who appealed her 2013 conviction of public intoxication.
Paye called police after fighting with her boyfriend and met officers on her front porch of her home in Waterloo.

While investigating the domestic assault complaint an officer questioned Paye about whether she’d been drinking.

A test revealed her blood alcohol concentration at 0.267 percent, more than three times the amount considered drunk if she were driving.

She was charged and convicted but appealed, saying her front porch isn’t a public place.

The Supreme Court agreed, declaring the front steps of a private residence not a public place if the homeowner hasn’t invited the general public to be there.

The only downside to this ruling is that whole “it’s not a public place if the homeowner hasn’t invited the general public to be there” nonsense. Iowans will be free to pound brews and holler words of encouragement to female passersby from the comfort of their porticos, as long as they’re not having a house party..

[via KCCI News 8]