Prom and graduation season is upon us and with it comes parties! What is your responsibility and liability as a parent if alcohol is served at your child’s party and someone gets hurt?

Rhode Island has a “Dram Shop” or “Liquor Liability” Act. This Act provides that any person “required” to have a liquor license who serves alcohol to a minor or visibly intoxicated person is liable for the damages that minor or intoxicated person causes to a third party. Bars and restaurants have had to pay hefty sums to the victims of the drunk drivers who drank at their establishments.
The Rhode Island Legislature has not extended the Dram Shop Law to cover social hosts serving alcohol to guests at their home.
Nor has the Rhode Island Supreme Court found that a social host owes a duty to a third person injured by an intoxicated adult who drank alcohol at the host’s home. However, the question of whether a social host owes a duty to a third person injured by an intoxicated minor who obtained and consumed alcohol from the host’s home has never been decided in Rhode Island. Other states, such as New Jersey, have found social hosts liable for the injuries to third parties when the host has served alcohol to a minor or an obviously intoxicated person.
What does this mean to you as a parent of a teenager begging you to allow him to have beer at his graduation party? Say NO! The Rhode Island Supreme has taken notice of the New Jersey case and would probably follow New Jersey’s lead if a similar case came before them. For a multitude of reasons, the least of which should be your concern about potential liability, you should avoid being Rhode Island’s first case on this issue.


However, this does not mean that you are immune from potential liability if you host a party at which alcohol is served to minors. In addition to facing criminal charges for furnishing alcohol to minors, you could ound negligent if you allow minors to drink and then drive