The issue is not whether Kearns son should be allowed to have parties with alcohol which would lower standards, but how the son should be sanctioned for the violation.  The criminal justice system is there to maintain an orderly society when other less expensive and informal means fail.  It is not necessary nor wise to resolve every statutory violation via the criminal justice system.  If I play music too loud for my neighbor, they can call up and request consideration or call the police and insist on a citation.  The former approach is more civil.  Kearns undoubtedly had other means at his disposal to teach his son a lesson.