The same thing happens at teen parties...a few people bring in their alcohol and others are unaware or or uninvolved with what they are drinking.
I agree, if the cops hadn't already stated the alcohol was sitting in plain view. After that you cannot say the other teens were unaware. If by chance there are teens there that are blind then I would give them a pass. All of the rest of them get a ticket. If it is sitting around in plain site they cannot say they had no idea and were unaware there was alcohol, and therefore, are in possession.
Unless of course one of them or some of them step forward and take resposibility for the contraband. Which, by the way, is the ethical thing to do. Don't know if it happened in this case, but by the way the parents are reacting, I doubt it.
I realize you are trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I raised two teenagers and for me to think they were all not in on the conspiracy is ludicrous. It just don't work that way with teens and their peers. I have two really great kids but like every one of their freinds they tried to get away with as much as possible. They are just now admitting to antics we did not know about. It is a good thing too, cause they'd still be grounded 10 years later.....LOL
I think we agree on a lot. What I am pointing on in this situation is that it is not the party goer's responsibility to police the party for alcohol. It is very true that sometimes the cops just charge everyone in the general area and the judge just rubberstamps the charges. This doesn't make it right, however, and really shouldn't be applauded. It's lazy police work and reckless behavior judges.
Police do this all the time and its reprehensible. It occurs with motorcycles where one group might be driving recklessly, and the cops ticket every rider they see - even if it is the completely wrong group. It basically reverses the system and presumes the charged to be guilty and must prove their innocence.
Going back to the case in the article, depending on the laws in the state, if the police can't pinpoint the possession then no one should be charged.