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Torts Keyed to Epstein

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Torts Keyed to Farnesworth Torts Keyed to Franklin Torts Keyed to Underwood Torts Keyed to Miller

Murphy v. Steeplechase Amusement Co.

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Q.1 - Reconstruct Cardozo’s reasoning using modern duty taxonomy: which statement best captures the majority’s analytic posture in Murphy?

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(A) Plaintiff’s unreasonable choice constituted contributory negligence, fully barring recovery notwithstanding any defendant duty.

Incorrect. This is wrong because the opinion does not rest the bar on contributory negligence.

(B) Defendant owed an ordinary duty of reasonable care but breach was excused by plaintiff’s consent.

Incorrect. This is wrong because the majority’s focus is duty delimitation, not excusing breach.

(C) Causation was severed because the plaintiff’s voluntary encounter operated as a superseding cause.

Incorrect. This is wrong because the holding is not framed as a superseding-cause ruling.

(D) Inherent, obvious risks define the activity’s baseline; as to those risks the operator owes no duty (primary assumption of risk), while a duty persists only to avoid concealed or unreasonably increased dangers.

Correct! Cardozo treats the inherent, obvious hazards as negating duty, a primary assumption of risk frame—while preserving a duty only against hidden or abnormally increased dangers. This doctrinal posture explains nonliability without collapsing the analysis into contributory negligence or causation shortcuts.

Q.2 - Given the majority and O’Brien’s dissent, what is the minimal factual showing that most directly displaces Murphy’s bar and sends the case to a jury?

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(A) Proof that the ride’s jerking exceeded ordinary operation so that the risk was abnormal or concealed relative to what a reasonable patron would anticipate.

Correct! Evidence that the machine operated abnormally (or concealed a risk beyond ordinary anticipation) directly undercuts the “inherent and obvious” premise and revives a duty of care question for the jury. This is precisely the wedge O’Brien identifies between ordinary, assumed risks and excess risks introduced by operation.

(B) Proof that plaintiff was subjectively fearful but boarded under social pressure.

Incorrect. This is wrong because subjective fear or peer pressure does not negate voluntary assumption in this setting.

(C) Proof that the operator failed to post general warnings that falling might occur.

Incorrect. This is wrong because generic warnings add little where falling is patently obvious.

(D) Proof that plaintiff’s injury was unusually severe compared to typical falls.

Incorrect. This is wrong because the severity of injury does not itself prove abnormal risk or negligence.

Q.3 - Which statement best captures Murphy’s transsubstantive influence on modern recreational-injury doctrine beyond amusements?

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(A) A) It equates assumption of risk with exculpatory waiver, requiring written consent to bar recovery.

Incorrect. This is wrong because the assumption of risk is not coextensive with contractual waiver and does not require a writing.

(B) It supplies the template later generalized in sports cases: participants assume inherent risks, but providers remain liable for escalating risks beyond the activity’s ordinary pulses (e.g., concealed defects or reckless operation).

Correct! Murphy’s logic becomes the template for modern recreational/sports cases: participants accept baseline, inherent risks; providers remain liable for risk escalations beyond the activity’s ordinary contours (e.g., concealed defects, reckless conduct). This preserves play/participation while policing risk inflation by operators.

(C) It confines assumption of risk to commercial amusements, leaving noncommercial settings to negligence balancing.

Incorrect. This is wrong because the doctrine extends well beyond commercial amusements into noncommercial sports and recreation.

(D) It abolishes duty across recreational contexts, converting claims into contract disputes over price–quality terms.

Incorrect. This is wrong because Murphy does not abolish duty wholesale or reframe the claims as contract disputes.

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Topic Resources

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Melissa A. Hale

ProfessorMelissa A. Hale

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Murphy v. Steeplechase Amusement Co.

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Murphy v. Steeplechase Amusement Co.

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Murphy v. Steeplechase Amusement Co.