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Farmer v. B & G Food Enterprises6/6/2002
year at the World Trade Center where hundreds of firefighters and police officers lost their lives.
. By adopting the firefighter's rule, the majority cheapens the importance of the duties carried out by our firefighters and police officers. This rule has the effect of punishing firefighters and police officers by depriving them of a right guaranteed in our Constitution. The majority's immunity of negligence is contrary to our Constitution and jurisprudence which provides that "where there is a wrong, there is a redress." Miss. Const. art. 3, ยง 24. The Constitution does not make an exception for firefighters and police officers in the line of duty; therefore, they should have the same rights to sue as any other citizen. Police officers and firefighters deserve the full measure of our Constitution as well as any other citizen. Moreover, the majority legislates in this case on public policy issues. Our Constitution provides that if there is a public policy issue to be addressed, it is for the Legislature, not this Court. See City of Starkville v. 4-County Elec. Power Ass'n, 2002 WL 24619, *4 (Miss. 2002). Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
. The majority adopts the Wisconsin rule which states that public policy bars recovery when an injury is sustained as a result of a negligent act that necessitated rescue. However, the rule allows a cause of action when some other negligent act causes injury. The majority attempts to justify the adoption of the rule through public policy arguments and cost-benefit analysis. These arguments are neither persuasive nor proper. While it is true that firefighters and police officers serve for the benefit of society, this service should not be to their personal detriment. Furthermore, this new rule and its distinction creates more uncertainty and ambiguity in negligence cases. This Court's role is to provide certainty and clarity in the interpretation of our laws. Instead of clarification and predictability, the majority further muddies the waters for litigants, trial judges and attorneys in negligence cases by adopting the firefighter's rule.
. I would apply the Supreme Court of Oregon's analysis and base Farmer's case in negligence. In Christensen v. Murphy, 678 P.2d 1210, 1217 (Or. 1984), the court noted that the firefighter's rule is based on principles of assumption of risk. Like Oregon, we have merged "assumption of risk" with our comparative negligence statute. See Horton v. American Tobacco Co., 667 So.2d 1289, 1305 (Miss. 1995). Therefore, the firefighter's rule has no bearing in our negligence cases. The Oregon Supreme Court also noted, and I agree, that the public policy arguments posed in support of the firefighter's rule "are merely redraped arguments drawn from premises liability or implied assumption of risk." Christensen, 678 P.2d at 1217. Applying negligence principles and our familiar "reasonable person in like circumstances" standard maintains common sense, consistency, and predictability in the law.
. This case again calls for the abolishment of the antiquated distinction between the duties owed by premises owners to invitees and licensees. See Hall v. Cagle, 773 So.2d 928, 930 (Miss. 2000) (McRae, J., concurring); Little v. Bell, 719 So.2d 757 (Miss. 1998) (McRae, J., dissenting); Triplett v. Dempsey, 633 So.2d 1011, 1018 (Miss. 1994) (McRae, J., concurring). Instead of deciding cases based on outdated labels, we should impose a "reasonable person in like circumstances" standard as we do in all other negligence cases. If the owner was negligent and caused the injury of a police officer then the owner should be entitled to present his case to a jury. If he was not negligent, then the case should be dismissed on a summa
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