Bernholz breaks down the law

Chapel Hill police last year cracked down on underage drinking at the beginning of the fall semester, resulting in several alcohol-related charges against students.

Several of these cases were dismissed when it was determined that police overstepped their bounds, violating students’ Fourth Amendment rights.

Dorothy Bernholz is the director of Student Legal Services, an independent organization that provides students with free legal consultation financed by student fees. She sat down with The Daily Tar Heel to answer questions about students’ rights.

Q: Do you think police might crack down as they did last year?

A: Yes. I think it’s very likely that there will be a crackdown at the beginning of school because the police are interested in sending a message. I don’t know of any specific plans but they do have a special task force that targets alcohol and I don’t see that going away in the near future.

Q: Why is it police sometimes seem prone to overstepping their bounds as far as students’ rights are concerned?

A: In the heat of the moment when you’ve got a room full of 40 kids, perhaps under the influence of alcohol, things get very confused. And since the law is constantly changing, it depends on how well they are trained.

Q: If a student is put in a position involving underage drinking and they believe their rights have been violated, what should they do?

A: They should understand that they have an absolute right not to give up any evidence. So they should be very polite and they should refuse to respond to questions. You should never agree to take a hand-held breathalyzer; this excludes driving a car. You are under no legal obligation to do so. If you take that breathalyzer and blow even “.00 whatever,” you’re going to be charged with underage possession.

Q: Why is the phrase “am I free to go” so important?

A: Because at that point it will make it so that it’s not a voluntary encounter and it will invoke your Fourth Amendment protections. If you voluntarily give a police officer evidence of the crime in a conversation then you don’t have the protection of the Fourth Amendment. But if a reasonable person didn’t feel free to terminate that encounter, then the officer should have advised you of your rights.

Q: How much money is a student looking to pay if cited for underage drinking?

A: It’s going to be a $500 beer.

Q: With a lawyer?

A: If you retain a lawyer, it should be for the purpose of really doing a challenge to the search, and that can be very, very expensive — $1,500 probably of just lawyer fees.

Q: Can students get a first offense removed?

A: The practice has changed with respect to deferred prosecution and community service. After doing deferred prosecution, the student then comes to Student Legal Services, and we expunge their criminal record. All that does is delete their criminal record from the court system records. But the information’s already on the Internet. So it’s impossible to capture that information and take it back.

Q: Where on the Internet would you find that information?

A: Any of these search engines. The administrative office of the courts sells that information. There’s no judge in the world that will give us an order to the Internet, and even if they would, where do we send it?

Q: How does a second offense change things assuming you get a deferred prosecution?

A: It’s going to begin to build a profile for some future employer that you might have a drinking problem.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.