DRAMSHOP ACTS
Statutes, also called civil liability acts, that impose civil liability upon one who sells intoxicating liquors when a third party has been injured as a result of the purchaser’s intoxication and such sale has either caused or contributed to the state of intoxication.
A dramshop is any type of drinking estab-
lishment where liquor is sold for consumption
on the premises, such as a bar, a saloon, or, in
some cases, a restaurant. Under dramshop acts,
the seller of liquor can be sued by an individual
who is injured by an intoxicated person. Such
acts protect the injured third party not only
against personal injuries and property damages
resulting directly from the actions of the intoxi-
cated individual (such as those resulting from
drunken driving or ASSAULT AND BATTERY) but
also against the loss of family support owing to
such injuries. Generally, the person who became
intoxicated cannot sue the seller if she or he is
injured, nor can any active participant in the
drinking.
The dramshop laws are based on the princi-
ple that anyone who profits from the sale of
alcoholic beverages should be held liable for any
resulting damages. For a seller to be held liable, it
is unnecessary to show that he or she is negligent,
provided it is proved that the seller sold liquor to
a habitual drunkard or a person who was already
drunk, which is generally illegal in itself.
Dramshop acts originated in the TEMPER-
ANCE MOVEMENT of the mid-1800s. In Illinois,
for example, the first such law was passed in
1872 and amended in subsequent decades. By
the 1990s, more than forty states had either
dramshop acts or court rulings that made a
commercial server or seller of alcohol liable if an
intoxicated customer caused an accident or
injury upon leaving the server’s or seller’s estab-
lishment (e.g., the Iowa Alcoholic Beverage
Control Act [Iowa Code Ann. § 123.92 (West)]).
Typical modern statutes include limitations on
awards, specifications regarding the commercial
