Who is liable??

[Ilovethemall]

Last week, I was coming through the Downtown eastside and went past the heroin clinic - which, by the way, they are proposing to expand and include crystal meth. Anyway, two junkies come stumbling out and wander away....makes me wonder, if a government sponsored shooting gallery gets someone high and they go out and rob me - can I sue the feds??

I would love to sue the boneheads that came up with this and I bet we as taxpayers are exposed to this type of lawsuit.

Any legal geniuses out there with an opinion - informed or otherwise?

 

[Herb_The_Perb]

I would love to sue the boneheads that came up with this and I bet we as taxpayers are exposed to this type of lawsuit.

Hey, I know that you hate the very idea of government (especially a duly-elected liberal one), but please don't be so two-faced as to complain about your exposure to lawsuits as a taxpayer, while also wanting to file a suit yourself.
Which is it? -- you can't have both.

 

[Ilovethemall]

rephrase

Let me rephrase for clarity.

I would love to sue them for putting me (as a taxpayer) in the position of being potentially responsible for the actions of some junkie.

If one of these junkies robs me, you can be damn sure I will sue them for allowing it to happen.

I am pretty sure that we are exposed to these types of lawsuits - why? For the same reason a bar owner can get sued when a drunk driver mows someone down in the street - seems to be pretty parallel to me.

As for hating government - wrong - I hate waste and stupidity which is what this entire program is - I could care less what political leanings the government had when they put it in place. I think a lot of what Harper proposes is idiotic but I am right wing. The political leanings of a government don't make their ideas any more or less dumb.

 

[lenharper]

One of the last things one would want to do after getting shot up with heroin or methadone is to get into a physical altercation so if you meet up with someone coming out a clinic who has just had a shot I got a feeling you're pretty safe.

Now a few hours later when they're jonesing for junk might be a different story but maybe you won't have to worry about getting robbed quite as much because the junkies don't have to steal to get a fix they can go and get one from the clinic.

 

[chiefwiggum]

You would have to be able to prove that shooting up was the direct cause of them robbing you, and that the robbery would not have occurred without the person using drugs - which is a long shot.

I'm not a lawyer, but did study law courses and legal philosophy in university. JMO....

 

[wilde]

can I sue the feds??

Are you rich?

 

[Herb_The_Perb]

Let me rephrase for clarity.
I would love to sue them for putting me (as a taxpayer) in the position of being potentially responsible for the actions of some junkie.

IOW, because you want to keep your taxes down, you would initiate a law suit which, if successful, would have the effect of increasing your taxes.

The other point -- are these guys more or less likely to attack you or someone else as a result of the govt. program? -- seems to have been answered convincingly by others.
So, it seems to me that you have no legitimate beef, other than not liking govt. to engage in social programmes. If so, you'd really like it south of the border.