Once upon a time in a land far, far away the courts refused to legislate from the bench. That place was called Dram Shop Wonderland. The story goes like this:
In that day, there were dram shop owners and innkeepers who served their guests beverages known to cause inebriation. The guests would leave the place in a less than sober state and caused mischief in the town, including damage and injury. The victims of the mischief made appeals to the courts and the courts ordered the guests to pay for the damage. However, the victims found it difficult to collect damages from the drunken guests.
In
this town lived a smart lawyer. He argued that the damages were caused in part
by the dram shop owners and innkeepers. So he sued the owners in court. He
argued that the purveyors of adult beverages should not be serving liquor to
drunks. Therefore, the owners should pay for the damages done by their
marauding guests. But the courts would hear none of it. The courts told the
lawyer that the guests were responsible for the damage done, not the innkeepers
or the dram shop owners.
But as we all know, times have changed. We no longer have dram shops. Nowadays they are bars and taverns. We no longer have inns. Now they are hotels. And since those days, a number of courts in a number of states have ruled that bars and hotels that serve alcohol are responsible for the injuries and damage caused by their less than sober guests.
Following the lead of other states, Nevada lawyers have tried to get Nevada judges to impose liability on the owners for damage or injury caused by the intoxicated guests. However, no matter how compelling the facts, the Nevada judges have refused. For example there is case of Hamm v. Carson City Nugget, Inc. 85 Nev. 99, 450 P.2d 358 (1969), a pedestrian was killed when a drunken man was served alcohol at a tavern contrary to the law. In Hinegardner v. Marcor Resorts, L.P.V., 108 Nev. 1091, 844 P.2d 800 (1992) a passenger was injured by an intoxicated minor who was provided alcohol illegally. The most recent attempt was the case of Snyder v. Viani, 112 Nev. 568, 916 P.2d 170 (1996) where a bar was sued for the underaged driver’s death. In each instance the courts have said that if dram shop liability is to be imposed, it will have to be done by the Nevada legislature.
It appears that Dram Shop Wonderland is a place that can still be found. And that place is now called Nevada.
