Opinion ID: 2609904
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Overall legislative scheme

Text: As this court has stated, [w]hen the text of a statute is capable of more than one construction or result, legislative intent on the specific issue is unascertainable, and more than one interpretation is plausible, we ordinarily interpret the statute in such a way as to achieve the general goals that can be adduced from the body of legislation in question. Dietz v. General Elec. Co., 169 Ariz. 505, 510, 821 P.2d 166, 171 (1991); see also City of Phoenix v. Superior Court, 144 Ariz. 172, 175-76, 696 P.2d 724, 727-28 (Ct.App. 1985). The legislature's goals are clear. As pointed out in an amicus curiae brief, the legislature has responded to the tragic problem of underaged drinking [8] with a strong policy of deterrence. The statutory scheme includes § 4-244(9), which creates criminal penalties for both minors who possess alcohol and licensees or others who serve alcohol to anyone under the legal drinking age; § 4-241(A), which requires a licensee or other person to demand identification before serving liquor to a person who appears underage; § 4-301, which grants immunity to social hosts only when serving those of the legal drinking age; § 4-312(A), which implies, among other things, that licensees are liable for injuries resulting from a licensee's service to a minor; and § 8-249 (the not a drop law), which allows courts to suspend the driver's license of a minor who drives while possessing or consuming any alcohol. As a whole, this body of legislation reveals a definite scheme. The legislature has imposed criminal and other sanctions on all persons who, whether licensed or not, furnish alcohol to minors. Given this, it is unreasonable to assume that the legislature would provide civil relief to those who act illegally by serving alcohol to minors. Such a reading of § 4-312(B) would give civil immunity to someone whose conduct could even result in a charge of manslaughter. See State v. Marty, 166 Ariz. 233, 801 P.2d 468 (Ct.App. 1990) (defendant can be guilty of manslaughter by supplying drugs and alcohol to driver who subsequently dies in accident). The parties have not cited, and we cannot find, any instance where the legislature has expressed such an intent. We can see no indication that the legislature wanted to abandon its comprehensive fight against the cost and carnage created by underage drinking and driving by granting immunity to those who illegally furnish alcohol to minors.