Opinion ID: 1190816
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Richmond, Leaves from the Diary of an Old Lawyer: Intemperance, the Great Source of Crime 28 (1880) (quoting Hudibras).

Text: Courts also have recognized a connection between alcohol and aggression. Alcohol plays a major role in the incidence of death and injuries on our highways, the battered women's syndrome, and assaults and batteries in taverns, on the streets and in the home. Clendening v. Shipton, 149 Cal. App.3d 191, 198, 196 Cal. Rptr. 654, 658 (1983) (finding foreseeability of assault a jury question in a case filed before statutory revision); see also Carey v. New Yorker of Worcester, Inc., 355 Mass. 450, 245 N.E.2d 420, 422 (1969); Terry v. Markoff, 26 Ohio App.3d 20, 497 N.E.2d 1133, 1135 (1986) (finding a commercial provider of alcoholic beverages can be liable for assault, under a negligence theory, when it overserves an obviously intoxicated patron). Nonetheless, the majority affirms the Court of Appeals decision, holding that reasonable minds cannot find that a stabbing is a foreseeable result of overserving an obviously intoxicated minor possessing a switchblade. Prosser's guidance bears repeating: As the gravity of the possible harm increases, the apparent likelihood of its occurrence need be correspondingly less to generate a duty of precaution. Prosser and Keeton § 31, at 171. In Long, I would reverse and remand for trial.