Fr. Jim is on board with Radley Balko in this op-ed supporting parents who host underage drinking parties.  Fr. Jim says, We should be congratulating these parents, not arresting them.

Pardon me, but…what have you been drinking?

I don’t believe in jail time, but I do believe in hefty, large fines and community service. This is absurd. If I ever found out that an underage child of mine had been drinking at a party hosted by one of his or her friends’ parents, not only would I support charges,  I would call the cops myself. This communicates a disdain for the law, if nothing else, and it’s totally irresponsible. I also happen to believe that the drinking age should be re-lowered to 18 and that young adult binge drinking is out of control. But the mentality of "If you’re going to break the law, break it under my supervision, and invite other people’s children to do the same" doesn’t fix any of that at all.