Yes, really; it’s from the Facebook feed of Florida attorney and political hopeful John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan, who has featured in these columns on various occasions over the years. More eclipse-chasing from the firm’s website: “If you’re an eclipse viewer and you’re hurt on someone else’s property, you could have a claim, depending on the circumstance.” [George Bennett, Palm Beach Post]
P.S. According to this Space.com account of the turbulence found on the sun’s surface, “These pockets, or ‘bombs,’ eject plasma.” So that explains it. The sun has deep pockets! (And welcome Ray Dunaway show listeners.)
4 Comments
As I read the article, the only cases he is expecting from eye damage due to viewing the eclipse are product liability cases arising from “fake” or improperly made eclipse viewers. The cases he is hoping for arising from eclipse-viewing on someone else’s property are standard things like slip-and-fall.
I think I can do him one better. Suppose that someone has an eclipse-viewing party and dares a guest to look at the sun without protection. The guest declines, but the host double dares him. Since an honorable boy cannot refuse a double dare (have the courts taken judicial notice of this?) the guest goes ahead and is injured.
Small correction, Bill…it would have to be a double dog dare.
“Since an honorable boy cannot refuse a double dare (have the courts taken judicial notice of this?) ”
According to In Re Ralphie, A Christmas Story (N.D. Ind. 1952), both a Double Dare and Double Dog Dare may be declined without damage to one’s reputation. The status of the simple Triple Dare is unclear. However, a Triple Dog Dare creates an unbreakable vow, which must be acted upon.
It would seem that there is regional variation in the dare system.