Torts Commons^™

Affirmative Duty And Constitutional Tort, Michael L. Wells, Thomas A. Eaton

Scholarly Works

The Constitution ordinarily places only negative restrictions on government and does not require affirmative acts to assist individuals. The statutory vehicle for most constitutional tort litigation, 42 U.S.C. section 1983, echoes this constitutional principle. It extends liability to "[e]very person who ... [under color of state law] subjects, or causes to be subjected, any ... person" to the deprivation of federal rights, and makes no provision for a duty on governmental defendants to stop others from harming the plaintiff.

For some courts this principle disposes of affirmative duty claims forthwith. A noteworthy example is the recent seventh circuit case Bowers …

Res Ipsa Loquitur And Medical Malpractice In Georgia: A Reassessment, Thomas A. Eaton

Scholarly Works

Part II of this Article addresses the threshold issue of when a court may consider a medical accident as one that ordinarily does not occur in the absence of negligence. This part criticizes the blanket rejection of res ipsa loquitur in Georgia malpractice opinions. Judicial hostility toward res ipsa loquitur in these cases is based in large part on a misunderstanding of the so-called presumption of due care. This part then explains how an inference of negligence may be harmonized with traditional fault-based malpractice doctrine. Finally, this part addresses judicial concerns about the sufficiency of evidence. It is argued that …

Seizing The Middle Ground Between Rules And Standards In Design Defect Litigation: Advancing Directed Verdict Practice In The Law Of Tort, Aaron Twerski

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Process Constraints In Tort, James A. Henderson Jr.

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Defamation In Georgia Local Government Law: A Brief History, R. Perry Sentell Jr.

Scholarly Works

Whether it be contact between local government officers themselves, or between officer and citizen, or between officer and news media, or between media and government itself, the potential for defamatory publications is awesome. Historically, therefore, in the defamation law of any state, a considerable number of the cases typically arise out of the local government process. Indeed, no less a case than New York Times v. Sullivan itself is but modern confirmation of a traditional setting for defamation controversy. Georgia local government law likewise contains its share of defamation disagreements. At an early date, many of the state's common law …

Causation In Constitutional Torts, Thomas A. Eaton

Scholarly Works

The issue of causation is fundamental to every constitutional tort action. Money damages are not recoverable unless the defendant is found to have caused the plaintiff to be deprived of a constitutional right and that deprivation is the cause of some harm. In several recent decisions the Supreme Court has seized upon the language of causation as a means of restricting constitutional tort liability. In Monell v. Department of Social Services, for example, the Court based its rejection of respondeat superior on the implicit meaning of the term "causes." The concept of causation in a constitutional tort context thus requires …

Tort Law: Expanding The Scope Of Recovery Without Loss Of Jury Control, David A. Fischer

Faculty Publications

This article will analyze the types of changes that are taking place by examining three expanding areas of tort law: liability for negligently inflicted mental distress, negligently inflicted pure pecuniary loss, and harm caused by defective products. This examination will demonstrate that the scope of liability can be increased in at least two ways. One is by formally expanding the scope of existing causes of action, e.g., relaxing arbitrary barriers to liability or expanding the type of damages which may be recovered. A second method is by relaxing judicial control over the jury. This relaxation of control can take place …

Problems In Assessing Punitive Damages Against Manufacturers Of Defective Products, David Owen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Displacement Of Federal Due Process Claims By State Tort Remedies: Parratt V. Taylor And Logan V. Zimmerman Brush Company, Rodney A. Smolla

Scholarly Articles

None available.

Supplementing The Functional Test Of Prosecutorial Immunity, Anthony J. Luppino

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Products Liability Revolution - Proposals For Continued Legislative Response In The Automotive Industry, Stephen J. Werber

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The law of automobile product liability in the United States developed intially through a process of evolution, as evidenced by the more than four decades between the leading decisions in the area. Since then, the restrained evolution of judicial development has become a revolution with its major focus of attack in several significant areas, including: (1) crashworthiness, (2) strict liability in tort, (3) burden of proof to establish the existence of a "defect"; and (4) apportionment of liability judgments, i.e., comparative fault versus joint and several liability. The purpose of this Article is twofold: to trace and comment upon these …

The Right Of Publicity: A "Haystack In A Hurricane", Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Over the years, entertainers, athletes and other celebrities have sought legal protection for a variety of occupationally related injuries. By virtue of being in the public eye, celebrities often complain that their private lives have somehow been invaded. This concept of invasion of privacy involves damages for mental anguish suffered by virtue of the unwarranted disturbance. However, performers may also suffer injury of an economic, rather than personal, nature. For example, an individual's performance may be used without his or her consent. People will normally pay to watch that entertainer, but where the performance is misappropriated, he is unable to …

The Boundary Problems Of Enterprise Liability, James A. Henderson Jr.

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.