I.U. Law School - Indianapolis: Wilkins: Torts I: Cardozo

Hon. Benjamin N. Cardozo

Chief Judge, New York Court of Appeals

Hon. Benjamin N. Cardozo, Chief Judge, New York Court of Appeals	The Honorable Benjamin N. Cardozo Chief Judge, New York Court of Appeals
Benjamin N. Cardozo was born in New York City in 1870. He was the son of Albert Cardozo, a New York Supreme Court Judge. The senior Cardozo was a cohort of William Marcy ("Boss") Tweed and was involved in the scandal of Tammany Hall. He resigned his judicial post just prior to the New York legislature's vote on a bill of impeachment.⁽¹⁾ Benjamin studied law at Columbia Law School for two years before dropping out. At the time of the decision, he had served on the Court of Appeals for fourteen of his eighteen years on that bench. When he wrote the opinion he was earning an annual salary of $22,500. He had probably ridden trains on the Long Island Railroad Company's lines.
At the time that the case was making its way through the New York courts, Judge Cardozo was a member of the Advisory Council to the American Law Institute, which was considering drafts of the Restatement of Torts.
According to a story told by Dean William Prosser, the Reporter for the Restatement, Professor Francis Bohlen had learned of the case while it was before the New York Supreme Court. After the Appellate Division of that court decided the case, Professor Bohlen used it in preparation of a draft which was to be discussed by the Advisory Council. Because the case might come before his court, Judge Cardozo did not participate in the discussion of the Advisory Council.
Professor Prosser's story is disputed by Professor Andrew L. Kaufman.⁽²⁾ Judge Cardozo did, however, read the draft, out of which Section 281 of the Restatement emerged, and seems to have been convinced by the group that won the debate before the Advisory Council. Section 281 is reproduced below.⁽³⁾ Judge Cardozo was appointed to the United States Supreme Court by President Herbert Hoover in 1932. He died in 1938.

Hon. Benjamin N. Cardozo,
Chief Judge, New York Court of Appeals

The Honorable
Benjamin N. Cardozo
Chief Judge, New York Court of Appeals

Benjamin N. Cardozo was born in New York City in 1870. He was the son of Albert Cardozo, a New York Supreme Court Judge. The senior Cardozo was a cohort of William Marcy ("Boss") Tweed and was involved in the scandal of Tammany Hall. He resigned his judicial post just prior to the New York legislature's vote on a bill of impeachment.⁽¹⁾ Benjamin studied law at Columbia Law School for two years before dropping out. At the time of the decision, he had served on the Court of Appeals for fourteen of his eighteen years on that bench. When he wrote the opinion he was earning an annual salary of $22,500. He had probably ridden trains on the Long Island Railroad Company's lines.

At the time that the case was making its way through the New York courts, Judge Cardozo was a member of the Advisory Council to the American Law Institute, which was considering drafts of the Restatement of Torts.

According to a story told by Dean William Prosser, the Reporter for the Restatement, Professor Francis Bohlen had learned of the case while it was before the New York Supreme Court. After the Appellate Division of that court decided the case, Professor Bohlen used it in preparation of a draft which was to be discussed by the Advisory Council. Because the case might come before his court, Judge Cardozo did not participate in the discussion of the Advisory Council.

Professor Prosser's story is disputed by Professor Andrew L. Kaufman.⁽²⁾ Judge Cardozo did, however, read the draft, out of which Section 281 of the Restatement emerged, and seems to have been convinced by the group that won the debate before the Advisory Council. Section 281 is reproduced below.⁽³⁾

Judge Cardozo was appointed to the United States Supreme Court by President Herbert Hoover in 1932. He died in 1938.

Restatement of Torts Section 281

The actor is liable for an invasion of an interest of another if:
(a) the interest invaded is protected against unintentional invasion, and
(b) the conduct of the actor is negligent with respect to such interest or any other similar interest of the other which is protected against unintentional invasion, and
(c) the actor's conduct is a legal cause of the invasion.

Comment c. of the Restatement states:
c. Risk to class of which plaintiff is a member. If the actor's conduct creates a recognizable risk of harm only to a particular class of persons, the fact that it causes harm to a person of a different class, to whom the actor could not reasonably have anticipated injury, does not render the actor liable to the persons so injured.

(1) Andrew L. Kaufman, Benjamin N. Cardozo, Sephardic Jew, J. Sup. Ct. Hist. 35 (Special Edition 1994).

(3) See, William Prosser, Palsgraf Revisited, 52 Mich. L. Rev. 1,4 (1953).