Smith v. Merritt

HECHT, Justice, joined by OWEN, Justice,

concurring.

I join in the Court’s opinion and would add only that in several other states the judiciary has deferred to the legislature to determine social host liability. See, e.g., Bankston v. Brennan, 507 So.2d 1385, 1387 (Fla.1987)(“[W]hen the legislature has actively en*609tered a particular field and has clearly indicated its ability to deal with such a policy question, the more prudent course is for this Court to defer to the legislative branch.”); Gariup Constr. Co., Inc. v. Foster, 519 N.E.2d 1224, 1228 (Ind.1988) (“Cognizant of our legislature’s…