Many young people will brush off underage drinking charges because, "it happens to everyone," or, "it's not that bad." Unfortunately, this exact attitude can cripple a young person's future. Having any conviction - no matter how small - on a criminal record can affect a young person's ability to get a scholarship, a job, even an apartment. Not to mention that these charges are also very expensive.
Penalties for underage drinking in Maryland
College student arrested for not having headlights on
When someone is pulled over and arrested, most people in Montgomery County would assume that it was because of some kind of serious offense. In some cases, however, it is merely a matter that police have stretched the limits of the stop to find potentially incriminating evidence of a more serious crime. There are protections, however, from unreasonable searches and seizures that prevent police from stopping and searching whichever cars they want.
Maryland judge hands down stiff sentence to underage DUI driver
Sometimes young people don't realize the consequences of their actions until someone gets hurt or killed. This was the case for a 20-year-old man who accidentally killed three high school classmates while driving drunk last May after leaving a party.
