Court Opinion

ID: 9699766
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 20:50:38.560858+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:56.951691
License: Public Domain

PAPADAKOS,
Justice, dissenting.
A plain reading of 18 Pa.C.S. § 6308(d) convinces me that the majority’s interpretation has been strained beyond reality. While the majority finds justification for its construction largely by going outside of the four corners of the statute, I prefer to stay within the limits of the language itself, and in this regard I have no difficulty in deciding that the authority to arrest exists in subsection (d) for a violation of subsection (a). For all of its broad analysis, the majority opinion fails to explain the meaning of “making an arrest” for a suspected violator of subsection (a) by simply ignoring the words altogether or rolling them into the language of other types of statutes (theft, domestic violence, vehicle code).
On this basis, I further disagree with the analysis in footnote 3. The majority appears to conclude that an underage drinker can be issued only a citation or only arrested with a warrant. The terms of the statute under subsection (d) also authorizes a warrantless arrest, assuming probable cause. The words “arrest for a suspected violation of subsection (a)” must have meaning manifesting legislative intent.