My son returned to Thousand Oaks on Dec. 21, fresh from earning his bachelor’s degree. He attended a Christmas party the next night, announcing “I’m probably going to be drinking, so I don’t want to drive. I’ll just walk. It’s less than a mile.”

We applauded his good judgment.

However, when returning later that night, about four blocks from home he was stopped by a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy. Our son was cuffed, arrested and spent the night in jail.

He was upset and embarrassed when he got home and explained that he’d been arrested for public intoxication. We interviewed attorneys, all of whom shared our outrage, but found out it would cost between $1,500 and $3,500 to defend him.

That would take all the money he’d saved from work and had received as graduation gifts.

An Eagle Scout, he observed “Well, Dad, I was drunk, so I guess I was guilty.” He pleaded guilty in court, and the fines and court costs came to more than $500.

The standard of guilt here is, was he presenting a danger to himself or anyone else? My son was compliant.

Given the season, mightn’t the deputy have just cautioned him to be careful while walking home? He might even have put him in his cruiser and dropped him off with a warning.

This would have been a community relations bonanza. Yet the deputy chose to arrest him, a process that must have taken some time.

Our son has left Thousand Oaks now, moving back to the college town he found more forgiving. He thinks he may have a job but doesn’t know how his “record” will affect his final approval.

We have friends and family in law enforcement, and we have enormous respect for the job they do. But what is legal isn’t always right.

In what is an ironic postscript to this story, the week after my son spent the night in jail for walking home drunk, two blocks of our street were burglarized by car thieves. As far as I know, there have been no arrests.

Tom Lynch
Thousand Oaks