The Supreme Court today denied review and depublication in Summer J. v. United States Baseball Federation. [Disclosure: Horvitz & Levy filed the petition for review and a depublication request.]
The Second District, Division Seven, Court of Appeal opinion in the case reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought for injuries to a 12-year-old spectator who was hit by a foul ball at a baseball game. The court noted judges have historically applied the “Baseball Rule” that imposes on a baseball fan the “fundamental responsibility to protect himself or herself from injury from a foul ball,” but it revisited the rule and concluded, “the provision of adequate protective netting in a perceived zone of danger behind home plate (or for field-level seating along the first- and third-base lines between home plate and the dugouts) increase[s] safety and minimize[s] the risk of injury to spectators without altering the nature of baseball as it is played today in professional and college ballparks.”
