Bill Burnett, Stanford Professor, Arrested For Teens Drinking In His Home

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, Stanford Professor Bill Burnett and his wife Cynthia hosted a party for their son and his friends, 16 and 17-year-olds, to celebrate a football win. They bought chips and soda, but were clear about one rule: no alcohol allowed.

At 11:00, the police knocked on their door -- while Bill Burnett was making brownies -- because of an anonymous complaint and speculation of underage drinking. Though the Burnetts insisted that there was no drinking, the police found alcohol that, they say, the teens snuck in.

"They put me in handcuffs, put me in cruiser where they took me a police station and arrested me," Bill Burnett told the "Today" show this morning. He was charged with 44 counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor -- one for each teen at the party.

Cynthia Burnett said that, in hindsight, there is nothing else they could have done to prevent the incident. "You don't want to be sitting downstairs in the middle of your kids' party -- that's not reasonable," she told "Today."

And if the police hadn't broken up the party, the Burnetts did plan to check with each kid as they left the party. They were certain that nobody at the party could have left and driven if they had been drinking.

Because of social host laws, parents are liable when underage kids drink on their property -- even if they're unaware that it's happening. Legally, the police acted correctly, Star Jones, attorney and former prosecutor told Matt Lauer. But they "may not have used the best sort of community-based policing judgment," she added.

The debate of whether parents should be punished when teens secretly drink in their home is certainly not a new one. Just last year, a Harvard professor and his wife were arrested when their daughter's friends were caught drinking at her high school graduation party.

Cynthia Burnett says the answer is to talk more about underage drinking. "The adults in the community, parents, law enforcement officials, city officials and the teens themselves need to have a dialogue about how to create a safe environment for kids to be, for teens to be teens," she told Lauer.

Quick Poll

Should parents be punished for underage drinking?

Yes, it's their responsibility to monitor what's going on in their home.

No, all they can do is trust that their kids will make the right decisions.

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Comments

[Concerned Citizen in FL]

09:25 AM on 12/09/2011

I think Star Jones should be arrested for her poor judgement in her choice of attire.
If the parents set the ground rules of no alcohol then the children disobeyed and the children that were drinking should be punished, not the parents. The police are creating an atmosphere for parents not to provide a safe environment for the children who are going to find a place to party whether it be at a home or out on the streets. This will lead the children to the streets, less observance by adults, and worse poor judgements being made by the children. Parents now have no control over their childrens actions, only the liability. This is ridiculous!

[bayviewint]

11:10 PM on 12/08/2011

Drinking and having a Quicki with13 - 14 is just normal in Europe.

[Tracy Brunner]

10:49 PM on 12/08/2011

The parents did all they could to stop this behavior other than insert themselves into the party. The kids were teenagers. If they were 12 or 13, I would say they were neglectful, but these kids were college-bound. When the hell does a person have to take responsibility for his/her own behavior? Are these parents supposed to accompany their kids to college until they reach the age of 21? I have a teenaged son. I would be a horrible parent if I followed his every move. He needs to start learning how to be an adult. He is a good kid, but he will make mistakes. I did too. The parents in this case made it perfectly clear that alcohol was not permitted.

[nsheats]

10:30 PM on 12/08/2011

Reading the following comments one can easily see why our country is going to heck in a handbasket. Trust teenagers to have a party without alcohol. OMG what fools. To all you who have children and subscribe to this hands off approach to child rearing ... all I can say is that I hope you never pick up the phone and hear that YOUR child has been responsible for a alcohol related auto accident after a "no alcohol" party at a friends home. Come on parents ..get some huevos or dont have partys or kids.

[Mark David]

10:35 PM on 12/08/2011

Its frustrating isn’t it common sense is dead and the world has gone insane, we seem to have lost our minds and our souls.

[MarjorieMcK]

02:41 AM on 12/09/2011

Right, get some huevos because a case of eggs would really have prevented this problem. ;-)

[bobbing4apples47]

10:19 PM on 12/08/2011

44 counts? Then if all the kids were drinking and they checked numerous times there is no way they did not know. That is every kid at the party including their own.

[menlo park neighbor]

05:31 PM on 12/09/2011

the 44 counts is based on the number of minors at the party, NOT the number of minors that were drunk or drinking. More information is coming out about this, and it is pretty clear that a few of the minors snuck in alcohol and were sharing it with a small group within the party. Whether you agree with how the parents acted or not, you had better ask yourself as a parent is "what alternative would you provide?" Because teenagers are going to want to get together and party after a football win, some of them are going to have access to alcohol, and they are going to go somewhere to do it. I am 44 now, but when I was younger i was one of many drinking at parties in the park or golf course, and there was plenty of dangerous driving going on afterward. I usually rode my bike, but it was still dangerous. Lets not criminalize parents for at least trying to host a good time for their teenagers, and also trusting their kids and their friends to have the responsibility to do the the right thing. Hopefully the kids that snuck in the alcohol did learn a lesson here, but the parents who were manhandled by the cops (including the mom in a walker recovering from back surgery), arrested in their front yard in front of all the kids and their parents, handcuffed based on pissed off neighbors are paying the real price.

[ca taxes suck]

09:52 PM on 12/08/2011

OK, I don't know all the details, but the problem seems to be pesky neighbors. They want to impose their own view of what is right and wrong. Drinking at age 16 might be considered bad in conservative America, but in Europe and at other times in American history it was just fine. And it's a good way to learn responsible drinking. I never drunk in high school and I was a binge drinker in college. Face it, teenagers drink in their parent's home everyday; just this fellow was unlucky to get caught. The real moral of the story is to not ban your kids from drinking, but from teaching them to be more discreet about it so that they don't get caught. No bragging, no acting stupid, no hanging out outside. The law needs to be modified to throw in some adjective about being charged only if gross negligence is present -- which would get the parents off. And the one that needs to be in jail are the neighbors who rat on their neighbors for the police state!!

[nsheats]

10:32 PM on 12/08/2011

In other words teach them to break the law..Just dont get caught.
Spoken like a true republican.

[Sumz54]

12:02 AM on 12/12/2011

As long as there is no drinking and driving involved in 16-17-18 year olds drinking alcohol, it's a stupid law that only wastes resources. These cops could have been out preventing violence, drug deals, and drinking and driving deaths but chose the 'easy' target- older teenagers drinking in a parents home. Stupid. In a few months all of these kids will be in college and who is going to monitor them then?

[Mark David]

09:44 PM on 12/08/2011

Whatever happened to being a parent? that’s the whole idea of what chaperones are all about. Too many parents today want to be their kids buddies rather then their parents. If I had 44 kids at my house partying you can depend on me being there making sure it stays under control and not only isn’t there any drinking there also isn’t any drugs or sexual activity.

[tteknulpkram]

09:25 PM on 12/08/2011

I think it is unfortunate what a puritanical society we are becoming.

[thedesertpig]

09:04 PM on 12/08/2011

What of those who brought the alcohol, are their parents responcible for their illegal actions.'minors in posession of alcohol. I believe this couple should sue the parents of every child that drank. Why are they criminally responcible for the criminal action of their kids. Those kids new they are not of age to drink. Just because they were at someone elses home did not make it legal. They put the home owner at risk by their actions and their parents should be accountable.

[bhend]

08:52 PM on 12/08/2011

I agree that it wouldn't have been cool for them to be sitting in the middle of the party. However, did they take ever walk through the party to make sure the teenagers were just drinking soda?

[TJ2WIN]

11:12 AM on 12/09/2011

Yes, they went through several times. Baked cookies and brownies and took them down to the children.

[HurfDerp]

08:28 PM on 12/08/2011

I turned 21 over the summer and I didn't drink until then because of a promise I made when I was younger.

[berloi]

08:42 PM on 12/08/2011

For some reason the ugliest woman looks like Wonder Woman after six beers......be careful.

[Sumz54]

12:02 AM on 12/12/2011

Have a cookie.

[Ted Cantu]

08:27 PM on 12/08/2011

Imagine this. Dad gets the kids drunk. Or they drink in his house and get plastered without him knowing it. Sooner or later the cops get involved. This can happen through angry neighbors or the kids getting pulled over as they drive home. The dad gets thrown in jail and loses his job and drops the mortgage payments. In this economy he is screwed because he can lose his house as well as his job. As a parent I wouldnt allow this to happen to my family. Its not worth it.

[Mason Arrow]

08:25 PM on 12/08/2011

I think what people forget is that people always say, "I did everything I could" after they were arrested in these situations. What I question about this whole thing is, who was the anonymous caller who had more insight to the situation than the parents did? Unless the person called from inside the party, we're not getting all the facts about what actually happened. I find it hard to believe that parents who claimed they repeatedly checked the party didn't smell 44 drunk teenagers in their basement. Professors from Stanford are capable of bad judgement like everyone else. They're also capable of telling stories to cover their butts.

[evamspa]

08:21 PM on 12/08/2011

This is so crazy I am 48 and the drinking age back then was 18. I am ok. And when I was 16 and consumed alcohol my parents weren't responsible. Maybe making the drinking age 21 stops some from doing it but not everyone. And it should not be the parents liability. They are drinking in college give me a break.

[berloi]

08:20 PM on 12/08/2011

The court salesmen (police) are out to fill up the court house with customers anyway they can do it. Even if it destroy's families and a man's job in the process. It's all about lawyers suing for whatever they can find .The state sells the liquor licence but you go to jail for drinking it.......go figure!