Sebok on Rhode Island Lead Paint Decision

In last week’s Writ column, Tony Sebok (Cardozo) analyzed the Rhode Island Supreme Court’s decision rejecting the State’s public nuisance claim against the lead paint industry.  (Prior post here).

Sebok calls the decision “a model of common law reasoning,” and concludes that the decision added to the law of public nuisance in two important ways: (1) by noting that “the definition of “public right” (the second element in the test for public nuisance) does not refer broadly to any interest shared by all persons in a society,” and (2) by holding that “that the law of public nuisance requires not only that the defendant be a substantial cause of the interference, but that the defendant still be in control of the instrumentality that caused the interference at the time when the suit is brought.”   

Read his thorough analysis over at Findlaw.

– SBS