American law tends to favor people who sue large corporations for liability, particularly plaintiffs who’ve contracted mesothelioma or other ailments after being exposed to the mineral asbestos, used for decades as a construction material. But is it reasonable to order manufacturers that never made, distributed, or sold asbestos to pay for its ill effects anyway, on the grounds that they had reason to foresee that the mineral would be used in conjunction with the products they did make?
The Supreme Court considered that question when it heard Air and Liquid Systems v. DeVries in October. Questions of tort law like this generally stay in the state court system and seldom make it to SCOTUS. But the Air and Liquid Systems case is an exception. It arises from maritime law, a sector of common law entrusted to the federal judiciary and ultimately to the high court, writes Walter Olson in his latest piece at Reason.
from Hit & Run http://bit.ly/2Q9D6Ez
via IFTTT