BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1407
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1407 (Judiciary Committee)
As Amended June 27, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 19, 2011) |SENATE: |37-0 |(July 14, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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(vote not relevant)
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |9-0 |(September 6, 2011) |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
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Original Committee Reference: JUD.
SUMMARY : Makes a couple of non-controversial technical
clarifications of California's social host liability statute which
provides that a claim may be brought against an adult who knowingly
furnishes alcohol at his or her residence to a person under 21
years of age.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill, and
instead in this non-controversial committee bill:
1)Clarify the definition of knowledge in the bill such that a
responsible adult must be shown to have known, or to should have
known, that the person being served alcohol is under age 21.
2)Clarify that a claim under the statute can be brought by, or on
behalf of, a minor or a person who was harmed by that minor.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that everyone is responsible, not only for the result of
his or her willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to
another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill in the
management of his or her property or person, except so far as the
latter has, willfully or by want of ordinary care, brought the
injury upon himself or herself.
2)Provides that it is the intent of the Legislature to abrogate the
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holdings in cases such as Vesely v. Sager (1971) 5 Cal.3d 153,
Bernhard v. Harrah's Club (1976) 16 Cal.3d 313, and Coulter v.
Superior Court (1978) 21 Cal.3d 144 and to reinstate the prior
judicial interpretation of Civil Code Section 1714 as it relates
to the proximate cause for injuries incurred as a result of
furnishing alcoholic beverages to an intoxicated person, namely
that the furnishing of alcoholic beverages is not the proximate
cause of injuries resulting from intoxication, but rather the
consumption of alcoholic beverages is the proximate cause of
injuries inflicted upon another by an intoxicated person.
3)Provides that a social host who furnishes alcoholic beverages to
any person is not liable for damages suffered by that person, or
for injury to the person or property of, or death of, any third
person, resulting from the consumption of those beverages.
4)Provides an exception to the above, allowing liability against a
parent, guardian, or another adult who knowingly furnishes
alcoholic beverages at his or her residence to a person under 21
years of age. Existing law provides that the furnishing of the
alcoholic beverage may be found to be the proximate cause of
resulting injuries or death.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this committee bill also made a
technical clarification by declaring that Civil Code Section 51.7
was enacted as part of the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976, in
Chapter 1293, Statutes of 1976.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : This non-controversial technical clean-up committee bill
simply makes a couple of technical clarifications of California's
social host liability statute which provides that a claim may be
brought against an adult who knowingly furnishes alcohol at his or
her residence to a person under 21 years of age.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
(NIAAA), approximately 5,000 people under the age of 21 die every
year as a result of underage drinking. This number includes 1,900
deaths from car accidents, 1,600 homicides, 300 suicides, and
hundreds of deaths from other injuries such as falls, burns, and
drownings. Children who drink alcohol can also face significant
health risks, particularly with respect to alcohol's effect on the
liver and the developing brain, muscles, and bones. NIAAA also
reports that research shows that serious drinking problems in
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adulthood, such as alcoholism, often "begin to appear much earlier,
during young adulthood and even adolescence."
In June 2008, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) within the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services reported that "Ým]ore than 40 percent of the
nation's estimated 10.8 million underage current drinkers (persons
aged 12 to 20 who drank in the past 30 days) were provided free
alcohol by adults 21 or older . . . The study also indicates that
one in 16 underage drinkers (6.4 percent or 650,000) was given
alcoholic beverages by their parents in the past month." The
report also found that "Ýa]n average of 3.5 million people aged 12
to 20 each year (9.4 percent) meet the diagnostic criteria for
having an alcohol use disorder (dependence or abuse). About one in
five people in this age group (7.2 million people) have engaged in
binge drinking-consuming five or more drinks on at least one
occasion in the past month."
Last year, in an effort to help discourage underage drinking and
hold adults legally responsible when they knowingly provide alcohol
to minors, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed AB 2486
(Feuer), Chapter 154, Statutes of 2010). That measure provided
that a parent, guardian, or other adult could be held liable if he
or she knowingly furnishes alcoholic beverages at his or her
residence to a person under 21 years of age. This bill is a
clean-up measure and would clarify that the adult know, or should
have known, that the person served alcohol was under age 21. The
bill would also specify that a claim could be brought by, or on
behalf of, a person under 21 years of age or an individual who was
harmed by the underage person.
The author writes that the intent of this measure is to "reduce
uncertainty in the implementation of California's new social host
act," and notes that the bill would:
1) Clarify what is meant when the statute says "knowingly
furnishes." The proposed standard is that an adult can be
found to have knowingly furnished alcohol to persons under 21
years of age by either being shown to actually know the
persons being provided the alcohol were under 21, or being
shown to "should have known" that the persons were under 21
(by facts surrounding the incident). Thus, in the absence of
actual knowledge, the jury will be asked to determine whether
the adult nevertheless should have known that the person was a
minor (by being a contemporary of their daughter's class in
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high school, for example.) This clarifies that purposeful
lack of knowledge of the age of the minors is not an automatic
shield from liability if the adults should have known they
were minors.
2) Clarify that the minor himself or herself may bring an
action under this subsection for his or her own harm caused by
having been furnished alcohol, as well as third parties (those
injured by the minor's conduct, for example) being able to
bring such suits.
Supporter Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) writes that this
bill is intended to clarify the scope of AB 2486, a CAOC-sponsored
bill. CAOC writes:
Last year, CAOC and MADD co-sponsored AB 2486, designed to be
one more important tool in the fight against underage
drinking. Shockingly, prior to our bill, there was complete
"social host" immunity in the civil courts in instances where
someone, in his or her home, provided alcohol to anyone,
including a minor. Although the social host may be criminally
prosecuted, the law was absolute that no one could bring a
civil action. After AB 2486 was signed into law, the Judicial
Council committee that develops jury instructions was confused
about some of the language, so CAOC worked with all parties
(the defense counsel and others) to clarify its application.
AB 1407 is the result of those discussions and the language
has been vetted and agreed to by all interested parties.
This bill would specify that a claim under the statute could be
brought by, or on behalf of, the person under 21 years of age or an
individual who was harmed by that person. This provision is meant
to clarify who may bring a claim under the social host statute so
that, for example, the adult who furnished the alcoholic beverages
to the minor could be liable to that minor for his or her injuries.
In addition, an individual who was harmed by that minor could also
bring a claim against the adult furnisher. The provision is thus
intended to provide guidance to the courts in applying the statute.
Last year, California joined a number of other states to impose
civil liability upon adults when they knowingly provide alcohol to
minors. According to the author, the following states permit such
liability: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado,
Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,
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Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont,
Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Analysis Prepared by : Drew Liebert / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0002730