Doing my morning reading, I came across this.
– Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Bill Schuette, concurring in Woodman v. Kera, LLC.
Schuette, along with COA Judges Michael Talbot (lead opinion) and William Bandstra (concurring opinion), earlier this week ruled that because the common law provides that parents can’t waive their children’s rights, pre-injury liability waivers that parents sign on behalf of their children can’t be enforced absent a legislative abrogation of the common law.
“The decision in this case is bound to have enormous consequence and profound impact throughout Michigan,” Schuette wrote. To emphasize his point, Schuette included exemplars of a variety of pre-injury parental waivers for marathons, field trips, athletic camps and summer camps.
Having raised a couple of great kids, and gone to camp, filed trips, etc as a child myself, I wonder if this means childhood now becomes a little more boring? or Not? What the court does not see is the shift from responsibility to the parent or guardian with the waiver. The parent assumes the responsibility, and does not necessarily “strip” the minor of his/her rights.