Death of a Regular
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The Great Tavern Scare of 1995 began the morning of Wednesday, February 8, with a front-page story in the Tribune. The article said that Alderman Eugene Schulter was proposing an ordinance that would revoke the liquor license of any establishment that generated five nuisance complaints in a year. The ordinance would hold bars responsible for their patrons’ activities, not just on the bars’ premises but anywhere in a two-block radius, allowing barroom flotsam–sports fans pissing on lawns, package-goods patrons drunk on the sidewalks (and the people they annoy)–to harm the establishments that spawned them.
The Great Scare ended the next day, as a smaller and shorter report buried in the second section revealed that the bill didn’t have the support to pass and may not be heard of again. But Schulter raised a valid issue: shouldn’t the pushers, so to speak, of societally sanctioned drugs be held responsible for their products’ ill effects?
Opponents doubt the ordinance, if enacted, could be enforced adequately. “We’re always encouraging bar owners to be as responsible as possible when it comes to their patrons,” says Hansen. “[But] what do you do with a bachelor party that goes from bar to bar to bar to bar and eventually gets out of line? Which one do you go after? The last one? And how do you prove it?”
