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Torts - Illegitimacy - Negligence - To Cause One To Be Born Into The World As A Bastard Is A Wrongful Act, Charles J. Weyandt

Duquesne Law Review

Where breach of a foreseeable duty is the proximate cause of damages a claimant is entitled to a trial.

Williams v. State of New York, 46 Misc. 2d 824, 260 N.Y.S.2d 953 (1965).

A bastard child is entitled to an equal start in life, although it has not yet been determined how much this will cost. The New York Court of Claims sustained an infant's cause of action for negligence, where the only damages alleged were the consequences of bastardy. The child was conceived as a result of a sexual assault upon her mother, a patient in a state …