Category: reason

The First Amendment Right to Religious Darkness

From Valadez v. St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, 2021 WL 6128567, decided Sept. 24, 2021 by Judge Audra Mori (L.A. Superior Court),

Plaintiff, Flavia Valadez … filed this action against Defendant, St. Joseph The Worker Catholic Church … alleging causes of action for negligence and premises liability. The complaint alleges Defendant caused Plaintiff to fall due to unsafe conditions in and around an unlit staircase at Defendant’s property. Defendant now moves for summary judgment…. “The owner of premises is under a duty to exercise ordinary care in the management of such premises in order to avoid exposing persons to an unreasonable risk of harm. A failure to fulfill this duty is negligence.” …

Defendant asserts the incident occurred on April 5, 2017, during a Catholic faith tradition known as the Service of the Light (the “Service”) at Defendant’s church. In keeping with the tradition, the church was in darkness intentionally at the time of the incident. Prior to the incident, Plaintiff attended the Service since 1997. When Plaintiff entered the church, it was already dark, and when Plaintiff was unable to find a seat in the lower level of the church, Plaintiff went upstairs to find a seat in the balcony, which she had been to five or six times previously. When Plaintiff reached the balcony, it was still dark, as there was only one overhead light shining on the altar. The balcony has four levels or landings on which seats are available. Plaintiff proceeded to a seat, and as she took a step thinking she had reached the last landing, she fell because there was actually one more landing Plaintiff had missed. Defendant avers the only dangerous condition Plaintiff claims caused her fall is the darkness in the church, which prevented her from seeing the landing….

The court rejected the Church’s defense that the danger was “open and obvious”: Under California law, the court concluded, “if it is foreseeable that a condition may cause injury despite its obvious nature, a duty to correct the danger may exist, and a breach of that duty may form the basis for liability if it proximately causes the injury.” But the court concluded that the Church was protected by the “primary assumption of risk” doctrine:

Where, “by virtue of the nature of the activity and the parties’ relationship to the activity, the defendant owes no legal duty to protect the plaintiff from the particular risk of harm that caused the injury,” the assumption of risk “operate[s] as a complete bar to the plaintiffs recovery.” {[F]or example in the context of sports, … [p]laintiffs assume risks inherent in a sport by participating, and defendants generally owe no duty to protect plaintiffs from such risks but owe a duty not to increase the risks beyond those inherent in the sport.}

The doctrine of assumption of risk is not limited to sports. It applies to activities involving an inherent risk of injury to voluntary participants where the risk cannot be eliminated without altering the fundamental nature of the activity. (Beninati v. Black Rock City, LLC (Cal. App. 2009) [affirming application of assumption of risk doctrine where Plaintiff was burned by remnants of Burning Man effigy while at Burning Man Festival].) …

Plaintiff does not dispute attending the Service since 1997 or otherwise being aware darkness was involved in the Service. The church was dark from the time Plaintiff entered the church and went to the balcony where the incident occurred. Nonetheless, Plaintiff chose to participate in the Service, and thus, chose to engage in an activity in which darkness was an inherent part. The risk to persons who voluntarily decide to take part in the Service is self-evident, as participants who attend will be inside the church while it is dark. The risk of falling inside the church while walking or moving around inside while it is dark is an obvious and inherent risk to participating in the Service….

[T]he evidence shows that Plaintiff knowingly chose to walk up to the balcony in the darkness and encounter the subject landings, of which Plaintiff was aware. The darkness was inherent and necessary to the event, and the risk of falling on the balcony while there in the darkness was obvious. It was within the contemplation of the activity.

Furthermore, although Plaintiff contends Defendant increased the risk the darkness posed, Plaintiff does not identify any conduct by Defendant other than the darkness that caused Plaintiff’s injuries. Plaintiff argues the darkness together with the faulty stairs caused Plaintiff to fall. However, Plaintiff merely provides the balcony riser where Plaintiff fell presented a height differential of 7-1/4 inches, the subject landing ranged between 33-5/8 and 85 inches in length, and the area features varying tread lengths, but Plaintiff does not submit any admissible evidence explaining why these factors made the balcony dangerous or increased the risk of the darkness. Similarly, Plaintiff does not explain how the other factors Plaintiff identifies increased the inherent risk of the Service, especially whereas here, Plaintiff was aware of the balcony landings. There is no evidence that any action or inaction by Defendant increased the risk of harm to Plaintiff.

Therefore, the doctrine of primary assumption of the risk applies to the activity engaged in by Plaintiff, and accordingly, Defendant owed no duty to Plaintiff to prevent Plaintiff’s injuries. The court needs not address the remaining issues….

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Viral Social Media Story of Attempted Child Luring Turns Out To Be Nothing


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“Child luring incident!” read the warning that appeared last Friday on several Teaneck, New Jersey, social media pages.

“A man in a car pulled up and tried to get a child in around 11 am on 12/31/21,” it said. “You can clearly hear the child say, ‘I do not accept rides from strangers,’ and ‘no’ several times before walking away. Then the driver laughed and said, ‘I will follow you then’. Teaneck police have already been informed and are looking for any information on identifying the child, so please reach out to Teaneck police asap with any information.”

The post was accompanied by footage from a Ring camera, the popular security cameras watching over much of suburban America. It showed a boy walking down a quiet street when a car slows down and someone talks to him.

If you listen very closely—more closely than you would have to listen to hear a worm breathe—perhaps you can make out the boy defying the driver. (“Clearly hear the child” seems to overstate it.) Then someone in the car adds, “We have candy!”

“I said, ‘Don’t put it on the site! I bet you a dollar it’s nothing,'” recalls Keith Kaplan, a Teaneck town councilman who runs the Teaneck Today website in an unofficial capacity. But another one of the site’s administrators, his friend, Deputy Mayor Mark J. Schwartz, pressed publish—and the news went viral.

“Then it was on, like, 10 different Facebook groups within ten minutes,” says Kaplan.

The police got right on it.

But it took a few days for Debra Passner to notice it—and gasp.

“Oh my God, oh my God!” she recalls telling her husband. “Because there was a video of our car and our son!”

The Passners had been at a family celebration with their 14-year-old, who wanted to leave early (as 14-year-olds often do). He started walking home, with his parents’ blessing. Later, when they were driving home themselves, they saw him on the street and slowed down to offer him a ride.

“My son, being a wiseass, says, ‘I don’t take rides from strangers,'” Debra Passner recalls. So she leaned over and called out, “Don’t you like candy? We have candy!”

When their son shook his head, his father said, “Okay, then I’ll follow you.” But moments later, they drove on.

Once the Passners saw this online, they immediately called the police. “You could hear they were trying not to laugh,” says Debra Passner. The Passners also posted under the video that this was their child, and no one should worry.

The police paid a visit, were satisfied with the Passners’ story, and issued a press release stating: “Detectives identified the child and the suspects in the vehicle and determined that the child and the individuals in the vehicle were family members and no attempted luring had occurred.”

This got shared online as well. “But then of course there’s all the better-safe-than-sorry comments,” says Kaplan, who recalled two similar times his town erupted in fear, only to learn nothing nefarious was going on.

Once was when some men in a van spoke to a child. They were out of town painters who couldn’t find an address. Another time a woman gave a child a note. Kaplan can’t recall the details, but it too was nothing.

Why was he so sure that this incident would turn out to be something mundane?

“Because experience tells me it’s not the best use of people’s time to go up and down streets with people standing on them if you want to find children to abduct,” he says. “If it were, I would likely have offloaded one or two of mine.”

The post Viral Social Media Story of Attempted Child Luring Turns Out To Be Nothing appeared first on Reason.com.

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Viral Social Media Story of Attempted Child Luring Turns Out To Be Nothing


dreamstime_m_52016779

“Child luring incident!” read the warning that appeared last Friday on several Teaneck, New Jersey, social media pages.

“A man in a car pulled up and tried to get a child in around 11 am on 12/31/21,” it said. “You can clearly hear the child say, ‘I do not accept rides from strangers,’ and ‘no’ several times before walking away. Then the driver laughed and said, ‘I will follow you then’. Teaneck police have already been informed and are looking for any information on identifying the child, so please reach out to Teaneck police asap with any information.”

The post was accompanied by footage from a Ring camera, the popular security cameras watching over much of suburban America. It showed a boy walking down a quiet street when a car slows down and someone talks to him.

If you listen very closely—more closely than you would have to listen to hear a worm breathe—perhaps you can make out the boy defying the driver. (“Clearly hear the child” seems to overstate it.) Then someone in the car adds, “We have candy!”

“I said, ‘Don’t put it on the site! I bet you a dollar it’s nothing,'” recalls Keith Kaplan, a Teaneck town councilman who runs the Teaneck Today website in an unofficial capacity. But another one of the site’s administrators, his friend, Deputy Mayor Mark J. Schwartz, pressed publish—and the news went viral.

“Then it was on, like, 10 different Facebook groups within ten minutes,” says Kaplan.

The police got right on it.

But it took a few days for Debra Passner to notice it—and gasp.

“Oh my God, oh my God!” she recalls telling her husband. “Because there was a video of our car and our son!”

The Passners had been at a family celebration with their 14-year-old, who wanted to leave early (as 14-year-olds often do). He started walking home, with his parents’ blessing. Later, when they were driving home themselves, they saw him on the street and slowed down to offer him a ride.

“My son, being a wiseass, says, ‘I don’t take rides from strangers,'” Debra Passner recalls. So she leaned over and called out, “Don’t you like candy? We have candy!”

When their son shook his head, his father said, “Okay, then I’ll follow you.” But moments later, they drove on.

Once the Passners saw this online, they immediately called the police. “You could hear they were trying not to laugh,” says Debra Passner. The Passners also posted under the video that this was their child, and no one should worry.

The police paid a visit, were satisfied with the Passners’ story, and issued a press release stating: “Detectives identified the child and the suspects in the vehicle and determined that the child and the individuals in the vehicle were family members and no attempted luring had occurred.”

This got shared online as well. “But then of course there’s all the better-safe-than-sorry comments,” says Kaplan, who recalled two similar times his town erupted in fear, only to learn nothing nefarious was going on.

Once was when some men in a van spoke to a child. They were out of town painters who couldn’t find an address. Another time a woman gave a child a note. Kaplan can’t recall the details, but it too was nothing.

Why was he so sure that this incident would turn out to be something mundane?

“Because experience tells me it’s not the best use of people’s time to go up and down streets with people standing on them if you want to find children to abduct,” he says. “If it were, I would likely have offloaded one or two of mine.”

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The Pandemic’s Economic Impact Includes More Americans Starting Their Own Small Businesses


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We’re now entering year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the U.S. economy is still struggling thanks to inflation, supply chain issues, and continually bad jobs numbers. However, small business creation has been an unexpected economic bright spot since the pandemic began, and pandemic-era entrepreneurship could be an important part of the economic recovery in 2022.

In 2021 (excluding data for December, which the U.S. Census Bureau has not yet released), an average of around 452,000 new business applications were filed monthly. That’s a significant increase compared to 2019, when an average of roughly 293,000 new business applications were filed each month. Those numbers dipped in March and April 2020 before catapulting to over 550,000 in July 2020 and remaining above 2019 levels through the end of the year.

The 2021 data look especially promising because new businesses tend to hire employees. From January 2021 through the end of Q3, 1.4 million applications were filed to form businesses likely to hire workers, more than any other comparable recorded period. These so-called high propensity applications have been strong throughout the pandemic, with over 400,000 more filings in 2021 compared to the same point in 2019, and 255,000 more than at the same time in 2020.

A December 2021 Intuit QuickBooks survey predicted that up to 17 million new small businesses may be formed in 2022. Of those 17 million, Intuit estimated that 5.6 million will hire employees. Over 80 percent of survey respondents who were already considering opening a business reported that COVID-19 had sped up their plans.

“When the pandemic hit, we saw an unprecedented number of new businesses formed as millions of people spotted new opportunities brought on by the ‘new normal’ or reevaluated their priorities,” explained Alex Chriss, executive vice president and general manager of the Small Business and Self-Employed Group at Intuit.

The nature of pandemic-era work has likely made it easier for entrepreneurial people to launch their ventures. “Compared to previous recessions, potential entrepreneurs now have more widely available broadband, greater digital fluency, and a more mature e-commerce marketplace,” wrote Jeremy Hartman and Joseph Parilla for the Brookings Institution. “Today, it’s much easier to translate an artisanal hobby or creative passion project into an online venture than it was in 2008.” Online microbusinesses ballooned by 2.8 million in 2020 compared to 2019 levels, Hartman and Parilla note, and ownership of such firms “grew fastest among groups hit hardest by the economic fallout” of the pandemic’s onset.

It’s important to note that this growth comes on the heels of great pandemic-era devastation to America’s preexisting small businesses. In the first year of the pandemic, roughly 200,000 establishments above historical averages closed permanently. Millions of small businesses had closed as of 2021 when taking temporary closures into account. Though not as severe as earlier estimates had predicted, this wave of difficulties undoubtedly sent the signal that the pandemic and government-imposed restrictions on businesses would not be kind to would-be entrepreneurs.

That’s why it’s reassuring to see such optimism so clearly fleshed out in business application numbers. Reason‘s Eric Boehm previously reported on pandemic-era small business creation, writing that “the number of new startups in the pipeline isn’t just a silver lining,” but “a way forward.” Unlike the Great Recession, which Boehm notes “was the result of a banking collapse and credit crunch that made it more difficult for startups to borrow money,” the economic climate is different this time around. There’s more money flowing to startups, which will likely contribute to a more even recovery than that which followed 2008.

Small business creation isn’t the silver bullet for our economic woes, but these numbers show that millions of Americans have taken stock of a volatile world and decided to take on the risks of entrepreneurship regardless. The American economy in 2022 will be better for their efforts.

The post The Pandemic's Economic Impact Includes More Americans Starting Their Own Small Businesses appeared first on Reason.com.

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The Pandemic’s Economic Impact Includes More Americans Starting Their Own Small Businesses


thumbnail (1)

We’re now entering year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the U.S. economy is still struggling thanks to inflation, supply chain issues, and continually bad jobs numbers. However, small business creation has been an unexpected economic bright spot since the pandemic began, and pandemic-era entrepreneurship could be an important part of the economic recovery in 2022.

In 2021 (excluding data for December, which the U.S. Census Bureau has not yet released), an average of around 452,000 new business applications were filed monthly. That’s a significant increase compared to 2019, when an average of roughly 293,000 new business applications were filed each month. Those numbers dipped in March and April 2020 before catapulting to over 550,000 in July 2020 and remaining above 2019 levels through the end of the year.

The 2021 data look especially promising because new businesses tend to hire employees. From January 2021 through the end of Q3, 1.4 million applications were filed to form businesses likely to hire workers, more than any other comparable recorded period. These so-called high propensity applications have been strong throughout the pandemic, with over 400,000 more filings in 2021 compared to the same point in 2019, and 255,000 more than at the same time in 2020.

A December 2021 Intuit QuickBooks survey predicted that up to 17 million new small businesses may be formed in 2022. Of those 17 million, Intuit estimated that 5.6 million will hire employees. Over 80 percent of survey respondents who were already considering opening a business reported that COVID-19 had sped up their plans.

“When the pandemic hit, we saw an unprecedented number of new businesses formed as millions of people spotted new opportunities brought on by the ‘new normal’ or reevaluated their priorities,” explained Alex Chriss, executive vice president and general manager of the Small Business and Self-Employed Group at Intuit.

The nature of pandemic-era work has likely made it easier for entrepreneurial people to launch their ventures. “Compared to previous recessions, potential entrepreneurs now have more widely available broadband, greater digital fluency, and a more mature e-commerce marketplace,” wrote Jeremy Hartman and Joseph Parilla for the Brookings Institution. “Today, it’s much easier to translate an artisanal hobby or creative passion project into an online venture than it was in 2008.” Online microbusinesses ballooned by 2.8 million in 2020 compared to 2019 levels, Hartman and Parilla note, and ownership of such firms “grew fastest among groups hit hardest by the economic fallout” of the pandemic’s onset.

It’s important to note that this growth comes on the heels of great pandemic-era devastation to America’s preexisting small businesses. In the first year of the pandemic, roughly 200,000 establishments above historical averages closed permanently. Millions of small businesses had closed as of 2021 when taking temporary closures into account. Though not as severe as earlier estimates had predicted, this wave of difficulties undoubtedly sent the signal that the pandemic and government-imposed restrictions on businesses would not be kind to would-be entrepreneurs.

That’s why it’s reassuring to see such optimism so clearly fleshed out in business application numbers. Reason‘s Eric Boehm previously reported on pandemic-era small business creation, writing that “the number of new startups in the pipeline isn’t just a silver lining,” but “a way forward.” Unlike the Great Recession, which Boehm notes “was the result of a banking collapse and credit crunch that made it more difficult for startups to borrow money,” the economic climate is different this time around. There’s more money flowing to startups, which will likely contribute to a more even recovery than that which followed 2008.

Small business creation isn’t the silver bullet for our economic woes, but these numbers show that millions of Americans have taken stock of a volatile world and decided to take on the risks of entrepreneurship regardless. The American economy in 2022 will be better for their efforts.

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China’s Quest To Take Taiwan


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Chinese officials have started directing citizens to stock up on food amid rising vegetable, egg, and pork prices. Encouraging people to become preppers could just be how the Chinese government expresses concern about cold snaps and potential future COVID-19 lockdowns. But some fear it’s a more sinister sign, indicating that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wants people to prepare for the growing threat of war.

For years, tensions between China and Taiwan remained at a simmer. But in October, China sent a record number of warplanes, 149, into the Taiwanese air defense identification zone while conducting military exercises in a province directly across the water from Taiwan.

“The current situation is the most challenging since I joined the army four decades ago,” wrote Taiwan’s defense minister, Chiu Kuo-Cheng, in The Wall Street Journal, gravely noting that “Taiwan is no match for China in resources, manpower and military technologies.” The island, which is less than 0.5 percent the mainland’s size, is dwarfed by China in both area and population.

China’s complicated relationship with Taiwan began in 1684, when the Qing dynasty seized the island after Admiral Shi Lang wrote of its abundance: “Fish and salt spout forth from the sea; the mountains are filled with dense forests of tall trees and thick bamboo; there are sulfur, rattan, sugarcane, deerskins, and all that is needed for daily living. Nothing is lacking.” At the end of the 19th century, Chinese rulers, facing a humiliating war defeat, gave Taiwan to Japan; following Japan’s loss in World War II, it was returned to the mainland. But just a few years later, civil war split the country apart. The Chinese Nationalist Party (or “Kuomintang”) was exiled to Taiwan and would go on to exercise martial law there for nearly 40 years.

Despite this messy backstory, democracy and pluralism have flourished in Taiwan since the end of the Kuomintang’s dictatorial reign in 1987. As in Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea, the rapid industrialization of the 1960s has produced lasting economic strength for Taiwan. Toward the end of the 20th century, robust political freedoms and civil society institutions also took root on the island.

Fourteen U.N. members recognize Taiwan’s independence, and much of the world views its autonomy as legitimate or worth defending. But today’s CCP regards Taiwan as a territory gone rogue. Many Taiwanese people, led by democratically elected President Tsai Ing-wen, believe the mainland has no claim over the island. Many also think any attempt by China to annex it ought to be met with military might. Although some wish they weren’t cut off from mainland economic activity, most are acutely aware of how much they stand to lose if they are brought under totalitarian CCP rule.

From America’s perspective, Taiwan remains in limbo. The U.S. maintains an embassy-by-another-name there and has soldiers on the ground to assist the Taiwanese military. But the U.S. government officially recognizes the government in Beijing, not Taipei. That tenuous balance is predicated on the assumption that China will continue to behave peacefully in the Taiwan Strait.

During a CNN town hall in October, President Joe Biden vowed to protect Taiwan, saying somewhat controversially that “we have a commitment” to come to Taiwan’s defense if China attacks—the same position that then-President George W. Bush took two decades before. But it’s not true that the U.S. is obligated to defend the island; the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 just says that an attempt to take Taiwan by military means would be of “grave concern” to the United States. The concern is made more grave by Taiwan’s role in the global electronics market.

Taiwan does indeed provide “all that is needed for daily living,” but not due to the fishes and salt spouting forth from the sea. The chips produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. are essential parts of your smartphone, laptop, and car. Without them, factories around the globe would face difficulties in producing the world’s electronics.

“China’s intention,” Chiu worries, “is to take Taiwan quickly and deny third parties the chance to intervene.” If Taiwan became embroiled in a protracted military engagement with China, global supply-chain turmoil would ensue. What we don’t know is how the U.S. would respond to the CCP’s totalitarian flexing or what the collateral damage might be. While China may stand to gain, pretty much everyone else stands to lose.

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