The Supreme Court and Our Culture of Irresponsibility

Authors

Mary J. Davis, University of Kentucky College of LawFollow

Abstract

This article chronicles the Supreme Court's expansion of the “culture of irresponsibility,” where institutional defendants are freed from tort liability with no check on the abuse of such immunity. Professor Davis describes the Court's progression toward immunity in products liability decisions of the past decade including East River Steamship, Boyle, Cipollone, and Lohr. Noting the effect of the Court's decisions in promoting institutional irresponsibility, Professor Davis encourages the Court to use its “cultural influence” and reconsider its broad extension of immunity which has spread to situations and institutional defendants the Court never imagined.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1996

12-4-2013

Notes/Citation Information

Wake Forest Law Review, Vol. 31, No. 4 (1996), pp. 1075-1139

Repository Citation

Mary J. Davis, The Supreme Court and Our Culture of Irresponsibility, 31 Wake Forest L. Rev. 1075 (1996).