Court Opinion

ID: 9704103
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 00:22:14.375931+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:56.673150
License: Public Domain

T. E. Brennan, J.
(dissenting). I disagree. I believe the majority extends the rule of tort law too far.
Public safety is the business of government.
Today’s decision concedes the failure of government to make the streets and homes of certain areas reasonably safe and, in effect, transfers the governmental function of public protection to the unfortunate owners of real property in such places.
Already overburdened by taxes largely laid to pay for public safety, these owners will now be required to maintain additional lighting, guards, enclosures, alarms, locks and take every other precaution to avoid reasonably foreseeable conditions which attract criminals to carry out their nefarious deeds.
At a time when concerned citizens and public officials are seeking ways to involve the broader community in resolving the plight of so-called “high *577crime areas”, our Court would place an additional burden upon the land and the resources of such areas.
The intrusion of private industry into the business of public safety has been one of the most unfortunate phenomena of the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Already, there are subdivisions which operate their own patrol cars; private police and private guards are multiplying; vigilante forces of private citizens roam the streets with walkie-talkies; store owners and apartment managers arm themselves and set traps for burglars; and now this Court would give further impetus to such developments by imposing civil liability on the unfortunate victims of crime in “high crime areas”.
No member of this Court lives in such an area. None are voting to increase his own insurance premium, or that of his neighbors. What we do in the name of liberality is regressive. It is a mistake.