Imposition of Liability on Social Hosts in Drunk Driving Cases: A Judicial Response Mandated by Principles of Common Law and Common Sense

• NCJ Number: 109745
• Journal: Marquette Law Review Volume: 69 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1986) Pages: 251-277
• Author(s): D B Goldberg
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 27 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

After reviewing the theoretical underpinnings of social host liability in case of damages caused by a drunken guest, this comment argues that Wisconsin common law principles of negligence support the imposition of social host liability.

Abstract

In Kelly v. Gwinnell (1984), the New Jersey Supreme Court did not recognize the traditional common law proximate-cause element as an obstacle to social host liability. The court assumed the presence of the requisite degree of causation between a social host's furnishing of alcoholic beverages and injuries subsequently caused by the intoxicated guest's drunk driving. Wisconsin common law negligence precepts are particularly suited to the extension of liability to social hosts. The cause element of common law negligence is no longer predicated on proximate causation but on substantial factor. The controlling consideration of Wisconsin common law negligence is public policy. Applying factors identified by the Wisconsin Supreme Court as indicative of public policy, imposition of social host liability is warranted. 129 footnotes.