Digital Commons Network^™

Where We’Re Going, We Don’T Need Drivers: Autonomous Vehicles And Ai-Chaperone Liability, Peter Y. Kim

Catholic University Law Review

The future of mainstream autonomous vehicles is approaching in the rearview mirror. Yet, the current legal regime for tort liability leaves an open question on how tortious Artificial Intelligence (AI) devices and systems that are capable of machine learning will be held accountable. To understand the potential answer, one may simply go back in time and see how this question would be answered under traditional torts. This Comment tests whether the incident involving an autonomous vehicle hitting a pedestrian is covered under the traditional torts, argues that they are incapable of solving this novel problem, and ultimately proposes a new …

From Innovation To Abuse: Does The Internet Still Need Section 230 Immunity?, Benjamin Volpe

Catholic University Law Review

In 1996, Congress passed the Communications Decency Act to allow the screening of offensive material from the internet, while preserving the continued development of the internet economy without burdensome regulation. However, for years, online intermediaries have successfully used the Act as a shield from liability when third parties use their online services to commit tortious or criminal acts. This Comment argues that a wholly-unregulated internet is no longer necessary to preserve the once-fledgling internet economy. After evaluating various approaches to intermediary liability, this Comment also argues that Congress should take a more comprehensive look at consumer protection online and establish …

Re-Evaluating The Demise Of The Average, Ordinary, Reasonable Person: Unintended Consequences In The Law Of Nuisance, George P. Smith & William P. Lane

Catholic University Law Review

This Article advocates for a wider pleading use of the tort of nuisance—this, because of the unresolved complexities in the doctrine of causation which continue to plague an effective use of negligence. The confusing awkwardness or, perhaps, the actual demise, of the notion of an average, ordinary, reasonable person so essential to improving negligent wrongdoing has caused aggravation over the years and, indeed, given rise to a state of torbidity.

The judiciary can more easily resolve this evidentiary quagmire by shifting its judicial attention and analysis to the tort of nuisance. With alarming social indicators and statistical projections, confirming the …

Whose Best Interest Is It Anyway?: School Administrators' Liability For Student Injury In Virginia, Alison Landry

Catholic University Law Review

In 2012 the Supreme Court of Virginia declined to recognize a special relationship between a school’s vice principal and the school’s students. Without the third person liability that accompanies special relationships, a vice principal is allowed to put student safety at the bottom of his to-do list. This Note analyzes why the Supreme Court of Virginia’s decision in Burns v. Gagnon should have found that a special relationship existed between a vice principal and his students. Declining to recognize this special relationship has left school administrators with little risk of liability for a student’s harm. This Note discusses the few …