Drunk in Society

This chapter focuses on the role of intoxication in society. After examining the way courts discuss alcohol use as a social problem, it turns to three legal contexts: employment law, family law, and torts. First, it examines cases of disciplinary dismissals, in which civil servants whose employment is terminated after drunk-driving convictions sue their former employers. Second, it explores divorce cases in which alcohol consumption and intoxication are raised as factors that contributed to the demise of the marriage. Third, it turns to cases in which people claim they were defamed by statements related to alcohol consumption. In each case, courts issue opinions that either offer little insight into their thoughts on intoxication (despite a penchant for editorializing in other types of cases) or apply uneven, but individualized, justice.