Today Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, will make a proposal to the Madison City Council, outlining a plan to increase the monetary penalties for drinking-related offenses. These penalties include tickets for throwing objects such as rocks, public urination and disorderly conduct. Verveer has rightly proposed these measures in an effort to deter such behavior while bringing an influx of funds to offset the costs of increased police presence during events like Halloween. However, the proposal to almost double the fine for dispensing alcohol without a license is a measure that is both punitive and arbitrary, and one that unfairly targets students.
Although increasing fines to increase revenue is not likely to be a popular decision among students, parts of this proposal are necessary. Many of the more egregious offenses, it could be argued, are simply being adjusted for inflation-many of the ordinances have not been updated in nearly 20 years. Disorderly conduct, for example, which used to cost $164, will now cost $412. The fine for throwing objects will increase from $71 to $288. These are necessary increases; last Halloween alone, the total price tag amounted to $73,000, much of which was needed to cover the extra police presence. The taxpayers of Madison, all of us included, should not be required to pay for the destruction and extra protection needed for a select number of out-of-control individuals.
There are, however, a number of shortcomings to the proposal. One aim is to deter these unwelcome activities. The monetary difference in penalties, however, will do little toward deterrence, largely because the price increases are relatively inconsequential. If someone decides to throw a rock, the offender knows the penalties are already stiff. It is unlikely he or she will mentally rationalize a difference of $217 and then decide to abstain from the behavior.
For this reason, it is unlikely these new ordinances will have any deterring effect whatsoever. Drunks will do what drunks always do-act without thinking-and larger fines are unlikely to change that behavior. What these increased drinking penalties amount to is a glorified fundraiser.
What is then simultaneously most notable and most troubling about this proposal is how it targets students who choose to engage in the very behavior toward which police should be most tolerant. Students who choose to have house parties now face the possibility of receiving a $660 ticket for each person at their party, nearly double the current fine. House parties, which Verveer notes are, \in most respects benign and not causing trouble,"" should not be the target for punitive police action, especially when they are being conducted in a relatively safe manner.
Verveer, who for the most part continues to be one of the staunchest supporters of student rights on the City Council, has chosen to include this ordinance under the most dubious of circumstances. Verveer admits, ""I only agreed hesitantly as part of this package of fines to increase the dispensing alcohol without a license fine besides [fundraising and deterrence efforts], because they looked me in the eye and promised me-all the police officials did-that they would not use this increase in penalty to ultimately have a higher penalty for house parties.""
This editorial board cannot put this same trust in the supposed goodwill of the Madison Police Department. Too often, the MPD has arbitrarily granted a free pass to some parties, while unfairly punishing others with fines of tens of thousands of dollars. Long after this promise is forgotten, the new laws will be on the books, and police will punish many more parties with the new fines in place.
It is clear that the Madison Police Department and the Madison City Council should focus their efforts and punishments on the activities that are truly detrimental to the city and its residents. While this should include an increased focus on disorderly behavior, it is unnecessary to raise already large penalties on students engaging in ""benign"" behavior. It is not too late for Madison lawmakers and police to reassess these priorities.
