The StuSie

The StuSie Law Review

I have no intention of boring anyone with tales of law school, but I thought there might be some interest in debating the pros and cons of come issues of actual law both here in the good 'ol US of A and around the world. The topic of this issue of the Stusie Law Review is what's known as "Social Host Liability," and is basically the idea of holding someone civilly liable for the subsequent actions of their social guests. Let me illustrate this with a for-instance:
For instance, say I invite der Mistfink and Morsch over to play cards and have some drinks. A good time is had by all and then they leave and drive home. Morsch gets home without incident, but der Mistfink gets in a car accident and injures an orphan who, as a result, becomes a legless orphan. The question is, can the now legless orphan sue me for serving alcohol to der Mistfink, who caused the accident?
The courts are divided on the issue, with some (New Jersey in particular) saying yes, the majority saying no, and others saying yes if der Mistfink is a minor, but no for those of legal drinking age.
The implications of holding the host liable are not, I'm sure, lost on any of you - it means that any time you give anyone a drink at your place, you're opening yourself up to a potentially massive lawsuit. On the other hand, drunk driving and the like are also enormous social problems and perhaps need enormous solutions.
Basically I just wanted to open this up for comment...

posted by Der Staubsauger @ 21:53