I think it's so that it can't be seen overtly as a liquor product, because there are laws in many places against drinking alcohol in public. A cop can't demonstrate "probable cause" to charge a guy with drinking in public if the cop couldn't go into court and swear he saw that the bottle was a liquor bottle. And it's not justifiable for a cop to challenge someone's right to keep a bottle in a bag as he drinks from it, so technically, the cop can't go over and say, "Take the bottle off the bag so I can see if it's a liquor bottle." Doing so would be like ordering you to open your glove compartment so that the cop could find your baggie of weed so that he could then charge you with it. He needs to have a reason to suspect it's there in the first place. And there is nothing that says a bottle held in a bag has to be liquor... -Jeffrey
yep, that's why... but you gotta believe cops would do it anyways. a lot of them will do anything and then make up the probable cause later.
You people have lost your damn minds... probable cause? A bottle in a brown bag is nothing but booze, and that always demonstrates probable cause... probable cause is what a cop says it is, but in most cities, cops dont go after homeless people unless they're in the country club... why would they... its not like they can write a ticket... what are the homeless people gonna pay 'em with? many homeless people don't consult lawyers to come up with an effective legal strategy. I'm tellin' ya, people don't like cold hands.