Donald and Gloria Bowden hosted a late afternoon cookout at their home in South Carolina, inviting mostly business acquaintances. Justin Parks, who was nineteen years old, attended the party. Alcoholic beverages were available to all of the guests, even those who, like Parks, were not minors but were underage. Parks consumed alcohol at the party and left with other guests. One of these guests detained Parks at the guest’s home to give Parks time to “sober up.”Parks then drove himself from this guest’s home and was killed in a one-car accident. At the time of his death, he had a blood alcohol content of 0.291 percent, which exceeded the state’s limit for driving a motor vehicle. Linda Marcum, Parks’s mother, filed a suit in a South Carolina state court against the Bowdens and others, alleging that they were negligent.
(a) Considering the principles discussed in this chapter, what are arguments in favor of, and opposed to, holding social hosts liable in this situation? Explain.
(b) The states vary widely in assessing liability and imposing sanctions in the circumstances described in this problem. Broadly, in other words, justice is not equal for parents and other social hosts who serve alcoholic beverages to underage individuals. Why?