Torts Commons^™

Toys As Evidence, Randall K. Johnson

Faculty Works

This Essay asks and answers a single question, which was posed during a recent symposium at the National Museum of Toys & Miniatures. Could the study of revealed preferences, which is the idea that observed behaviors are the best indicator of one’s beliefs, improve our collective understanding about what constitutes unlawful discrimination in certain U.S. markets? A possible answer, which is informed by the Brown v. Board of Education decision, is the study of revealed preferences may improve our collective understanding for three reasons.

One reason is the study of revealed preferences provides a window into how some producers and …

Recovering From The Ego Death Of The Internet: How The Communications Decency Act Has Shattered Cyber-Libertarianism And The Non-Exceptionalist Move Toward A Brighter Digital World, Peyton Friedlander

Michigan Technology Law Review

For nearly thirty years, the legal framework for analyzing liability for claims of tortious wrongdoing on the Internet has been governed by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”). However, much has changed since the Act’s inception. Since Congress enacted the CDA, courts have interpreted its provisions far beyond their original meaning, creating a regime that ultimately destroys a prospective plaintiff’s ability to recover the equitable remedies once available to those seeking redress for online invasions of privacy and reputational harms.

As the Internet continues to grow and changes in technology rapidly develop, it is time to re-center equitable …

A New Middle Ground: The Continuous Treatment Doctrine As A Solution To Rhode Island’S Incomplete Tort Reform, Justin Edward Keyes

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: How The New York Appellate Division Slowed The Progress Of Judge Cardozo’S Effort In Macpherson V. Buick Motor Co. To End Privity’S Stranglehold Over Negligence Claims In Product Injury Cases, Jeffrey A. Van Detta

Touro Law Review

This article aims to tell the story of how the various Departments of the New York State Appellate Division sometimes helped—and just as often hindered—the development of the product injury law in the wake of MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co. (1916). Hailed for loosening the privity requirement that barred persons injured by products from suing manufacturers and suppliers for negligence, MacPherson has become the stuff of legal legend. No one put it more picturesquely than Dean William L. Prosser, who in a justly famous law review article described privity as a “citadel” and presented MacPherson’s author, Judge Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, …

Rules Of The Road: Toward National Regulation Of Autonomous Vehicles, Adam Raviv

Journal of Law and Mobility

After decades of promise, self-driving cars are now becoming a meaningful reality on our roads. Yet not a single federal law or regulation governs autonomous vehicle operation in the United States—despite widespread agreement among policymakers, advocates, and industry stakeholders that a national safety framework is necessary. This article provides the first comprehensive legal analysis of what a federal safety regulation for autonomous vehicles can and should look like. It describes the current landscape of autonomous technology. It analyzes both the existing federal legal regime for vehicle safety regulation as well as state, local, and international standards that apply to autonomous …

Vicarious Liability In Sexual Misconduct Cases In Minnesota, Mike Steenson

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

Employers are vicariously liable for torts committed by their employees acting within the course and scope of their employment. The predominant test turns on whether the employee acted, at least in part, out of a desire to serve the employer’s interests. That test is problematic in cases involving intentional torts committed by an employee, particularly in sexual assault cases. Existing vicarious liability rules have been heavily criticized for the motive rule’s limiting effect, even where the nature of the employment may facilitate the tort. A minority of jurisdictions impose vicarious liability in cases where the tort is a characteristic risk …

The Deepfake Dilemma: Fake Images, Real Victims, And The Legal Void In Addressing Non-Consensual Deepfake Pornography, Elizabeth A. Safaryn

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This Note evaluates the various legal remedies available to victims of non-consensual deepfake pornography. As deepfakes are a relatively new but rapidly advancing technology, it is difficult for the law to keep up with the mass creation and distribution of AI-generated images on the Internet. With the competing interest of constitutionally protected speech, current deepfake laws fail to address non-consensual intimate image sharing (NCII) explicitly and lack the necessary deterrent effect to curb their proliferation. With an initial background on deepfakes and machine learning, this Note then explores the strained relationship between the First Amendment and the available civil remedies …

Memoir: The Brain, Neuroethics, And Bioethics, Leslie C. Griffin

Scholarly Works

This Essay examines how developments in neuroscience (or brain science) affect our views of law, medicine, ethics, and religion. Part I shows how lack of clarity about brain death can lead to premature organ donation. Part II argues that health care too often provides inadequate brain care and incomplete rehabilitation. Part III explains why recovery may be possible for those braininjured patients who are told it is not. Part IV demonstrates how the fear of a brain-injured patient oddly affects my perspective on Tort and Criminal Law, which are being influenced by neuroscientific advances. Part V examines the new developments …

Haze Gray, Stay Away: How Extending The Feres Doctrine To Ship Collisions Usurps Justice In Admiralty, Caroline Stanton Chlaupek

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Flock Above Us: The Unconstitutionality Of Automated License Plate Readers, Evan Degaitas

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Clinton V. Babcock, 332 A.3d 167 (R.I. 2025)., Greta Johnson

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Anti-Slapp Confusion: Should Federal Courts Permit Interlocutory Appeal For Anti-Slapp Motions?, Mitchell L. Grantham

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Structures In Private Law And The Example Of Waste Law, Jill M. Fraley

Scholarly Articles

This Article proposes three criteria for when a private law mechanism performs a structural constitutional function: when it constrains present authority in the name of future stability, when it disperses enforcement to avoid centralized authority, and when it has structural entrenchment to avoid ordinary displacement. While many private law doctrines contain constitutional resonances or echo rights, the core of constitutional law is the power structure—a precondition for the protection of those rights. Constitutional structures have three key components: self-binding through time, separation and diffusion of power, and entrenchment beyond ordinary politics. For a private law doctrine to do more than …

Toward A Framework For A Law Of Electronic Intangibles Liability, James M. Beck, Alexander M. Deguire

Marquette Law Review

Products liability law was built for a world of gears, levers, and physical failure. It now confronts a marketplace dominated by software, data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence—objects that do not break, shatter, or wear out, but nevertheless cause real and sometimes catastrophic harm. Courts and commentators increasingly respond to this tension by asking whether these digital systems are “product-like” enough to be squeezed into existing strict liability frameworks. This Article argues that this is the wrong question.

The Article traces the historical foundations of strict products liability; explains why courts have traditionally excluded intangibles from its reach; and examines recent …

Assessing Liability For School Shootings, Nanci K. Carr

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

Systemic Racism As Negligence, Taifha Natalee Alexander

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

If negligence doctrine can hold polluters liable for foreseeable toxic harm, should it not also hold schools liable for the racial toxins their policies foreseeably cause? Negligence serves as a critical doctrinal vehicle for redressing harm resulting from failures to exercise care. Embedded in common law traditions, negligence doctrine has evolved significantly through application to new contexts where systemic, rather than individualized, failures produce harm. Some courts have applied negligence doctrine to an expanding range of institutional responsibilities, from medical malpractice to corporate liability. Yet, despite the doctrine’s flexibility, courts have not applied the framework to address one of …

Seeing Is Believing? Deepfakes In Financial Markets, Hadar Y. Jabotinsky, Michal Lavi

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

An AI-powered tool recently mimicked Warren Buffett's image and voice so convincingly that even his own family could have been deceived. This striking example highlights the transformative potential of voice cloning and deepfakes. This innovative technology leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to create hyper-realistic audio and video content. By blurring the boundaries between authenticity and synthetic creation, deepfakes make it possible to fabricate moments that never occurred. Recent advancements in AI and user-friendly software have made deepfakes more accessible andfurther contributed to the proliferation of deepfakes, enabling even individuals with minimal technical skills to produce compelling deepfakes at little to no …

Moral Progress In Legal Doctrine, Philip Petrov

Faculty Scholarship

This article integrates the concept of moral progress – here, moral improvement in the thinking and behavior of individuals over time – into the study of legal doctrine. The article first presents a naturalistic account of what moral progress is and describes three of its most historically and analytically important forms: (1) moral circle expansion, (2) moral domain expansion, and (3) increasing sensitivity to proportionality. The article then analyzes three historical developments in U.S. tort law that qualify as instances of moral progress: (1) the partial demise of the “suicide rule” beginning around the 1980s (according to …

Artificial Intelligence, Judicial Evolution, And Insurance, Renee Henson

Faculty Publications

AI-driven platforms have the potential to inflict traditional injuries in new ways. Proprietary algorithms trained on large volumes of personal data can cause mental, emotional, and sometimes physical injuries via conversational exchanges, harmful content recommendations, and the promotion of extremist content. This "algorithmic liability" fundamentally challenges existing legal doctrines and statutory protections, thereby exposing deficiencies in current insurance coverage frameworks. 

Historically, courts dismissed algorithmic liability claims early in litigation, invoking Section 230 immunity and First Amendment protections, and resisted classifying algorithmic tools as "products" for the purposes of products liability law. Recent jurisprudence, however, signals a critical turning point. On …

Roman V. City Of Providence, 333 A.3d 74 (R.I. 2025)., Alexander I. Sanchez

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.