From: mkb30@cam.ac.uk (Matthew Belmonte)
To: Trevor.woollams@cambridge.gov.uk
Subject: oppose the anti-drinking byelaw
Cc: iain@iainjcoleman.net (Iain Coleman)
Date: Tue, 02 Dec 2003 17:21:04 +0000

Dear Mr Woollams

I write to register my opposition to Cambridge City Council's proposal for a
new byelaw to control `anti-social drinking' in public places throughout the
city.  I live at the end of Mill Road, the area that gave rise to the
discussion surrounding this measure.

I oppose the proposed byelaw for the same reason that I opposed the earlier
proposed Designated Public Places Order: the byelaw in its current wording
would give too much discretion to police, potentially allowing them to harrass
anyone whose looks they didn't like.  Specifically, the proposed byelaw would
allow police to stop not only people who *are* causing harassment, alarm, or
distress, but also those who "are likely to cause" harassment, alarm, or
distress.  The demand to judge whether a person is "likely to cause" a problem
is an invitation for the use of subjective criteria, and thus an invitation to
unfair discrimination.

I've been at poetry readings at the CB1 cafe on Mill Road that have been
disrupted by loud drunks on the pavement outside, and of course I don't like
these occasional disruptions, but I would prefer to suffer them and to be
assured that I myself will continue to enjoy the freedom of relaxing with a
beer on Parker's Piece -- no matter how scruffy I may look.  Criminalising the
perceived *likelihood* of an offence is an Orwellian measure that we don't
need.

Sincerely

Matthew Belmonte

[address]