Court Opinion

ID: 9523192
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:36:58.506854+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:04:41.253806
License: Public Domain

CHIEF JUSTICE McMORROW, specially concurring: Plaintiff in the case at bar seeks to impose a form of social host liability that is much broader than the type we rejected in Charles v. Seigfried, 165 Ill. 2d 482 (1995). Here, as the majority correctly notes, “plaintiff seeks to impose liability for any injuries proximately caused by the adult provision of alcoholic beverages to a minor.” (Emphasis in original.) 203 Ill. 2d at 234. In Charles, by contrast, we were faced with a more narrow issue: the serving by an adult social host of alcoholic beverages to a minor who became intoxicated, left the social gathering, and was subsequently involved in an auto accident. I agree with the majority’s decision today not to recognize the broader form of social host liability sought by plaintiff in the case at bar. I write separately to reaffirm the views expressed in my dissent in Charles that there should be civil liability in situations where an adult social host provides alcohol to a minor who is permitted to become intoxicated and then drive a vehicle. In view of “the present-day reality of the needless carnage and destruction wrought by underage drunk driving” (Charles, 165 Ill. 2d at 511 (McMorrow, J., dissenting, joined by Harrison, J.)), I continue to believe it imperative that adult social host liability be imposed for the provision of alcohol to a minor in circumstances such as those presented in Charles.