ND, SMC students face fines after bust
By TIM LOGAN
Senior Staff Writer
Most of the 147 minors cited in the Oct. 13 raid of Finnigan's Irish Pub will face community service and fines from St. Joseph County, and Notre Dame students will likely receive additional punishment from the University.
Nearly everyone who received a citation for being a minor in a tavern is a student at either Notre Dame or Saint Mary's. Police cited six for possession of false identification and three were arrested and booked at the county jail for various charges of resisting arrest, public intoxication and minor consumption of alcohol.
Most of those students were given "pretrial diversion" which prevents the incident from being put on their record if they pay a $220 court fee and complete 40 hours of community service. This is the Prosecutor's Office's standard procedure for minors charged with consuming alcohol.
Minor in a tavern is a Class C misdemeanor, which can carry up to a $500 fine and six months in jail, as well as loss of driver's license. The students were not punished that severely, but some still called the sanction harsh.
"I think it's pretty heavy," said Merideth Pierce, a Saint Mary's sophomore who was cited. "The community service is heavy for me being a college student."
Notre Dame will likely also discipline its underage students who were at Finnigan's. No decisions have been made yet about sanctions, according to Jeff Shoup, director of Residence Life, but the students will have individual disciplinary hearings in the coming weeks.
Punishments will vary depending on a student's prior record and what they were cited for at Finnigan's. Shoup said it was hard to generalize about sanctions.
"When you're talking about Finnigan's, there's a lot of different circumstances," Shoup said. "People who were drinking, not drinking, in possession of fake IDs and so on."
In large raids in the past, such as ones on Bridget McGuire's and the Irish Connection in 1998, University punishment has included a combination of community service and fines.
No decision has yet been made about sanctions for student-athletes who were at the bar, according to Bill Kirk, assistant vice president for Residence Life. Basketball players Troy Murphy, Tom Timmermans and Jere Macura were cited, as was football player Gerome Sapp. Decisions on possible sanctions, including suspension, will be made by the Office of Student Affairs, not the Athletic Department, Kirk said.
Saint Mary's student-athletes – and there were several at the bar – may be subject to disciplinary action from their coaches, but the College will not sanction any of its students who were at the bar, according to Linda Timm, vice president for Student Affairs. Timm will send a letter to each student who was cited, however.
This disparity in punishment is a result of differences in the school's student codes. Du Lac states that students who break local, state or federal laws may be subject to disciplinary action, but the Saint Mary's student handbook does not permit the College to take action against students for off-campus offenses.
The raid happened around 1 a.m. on the Friday before fall break. Officers from the Indiana State Excise Police and the South Bend Police Department raided the bar, which had its liquor license suspended. There had been numerous complaints of underage drinking at the bar, a popular student nightspot, especially on Thursdays.
Some of those complaints came from Notre Dame.
"We have expressed long time concern about underage drinking off-campus," Kirk said. "We've always been in discussion with local authorities."
Material from the South Bend Tribune was used in this report.
All News Stories for Tuesday, October 24, 2000
