According to WaPo, Virginia police have been cracking down on public drunkenness in such “public” places as… privately owned bars. Cops just strolled in, and if folks looked tipsy — and in some cases even if they were stone sober — they were hauled out for a sobriety test. Now, it surely makes sense to have a cruiser pass by bar parking lots, and maybe approach someone who seems to be swaying as they open the driver’s side door. But this is clearly nuts — “public drunkenness” doesn’t even require that you be planning to drive… or indeed, that you own a car.

This is arguably an instance of reductio creep. Antidiscrimination laws (among others) familiarized us with the idea that making your property available to some members of the public magically transforms it into a “place of public accommodation.” In one sense, this is just an extension of that idea — treating a private business as no different than a public square. If it becomes too obnoxious, though, I wouldn’t be surprised if we started to see bars becoming nominally “private clubs.” I’m told that in certain dry counties, where a “restaurant” can’t sell liquor, but a “private club” can, most restaurants just have a “club” you can join for a buck or two when you go in to eat. Ah, law.