Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T23:02:22.211Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Changing the Common Law: Effects of the Decline of Charitable Immunity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Gregory A. Caldeira
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This paper examines the effects of the abrogation of one common-law doctrine—“charitable immunity”—on the operation and viability of one charitable institution—the hospital—in 24 states over the period 1951-1971. Four models of the effects of abrogation are considered. To test these models, I conceptualize the termination of immunity as an experimental treatment in an interrupted time-series design. I conclude that abrogation led to changes of quite varied magnitude in different states. Apart from abrogation, the onset of Medicare and Medicaid, and changes in the economic environment had considerable effects on hospital costs. In states abrogating after the beginning of federal intervention in medical care, judicial doctrine had no discernible impact on the costs of hospitals.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 16 , Issue 4 , 1982 , pp. 669 - 693
Copyright
Copyright © 1982 The Law and Society Association.

Footnotes

*

Professor Bradley Canon of The University of Kentucky generously provided me with his data for this paper. I appreciate his collegial assistance. Professors John Alford, Thomas Mans, and Samuel C. Patterson, and several anonymous reviewers made helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. The assistance of the staff of the Laboratory for Political Research, especially Mr. Chia-Hsing Lu, and of the Department of Political Science of the University of Iowa has aided immeasurably in the preparation of this manuscript. Statistical analyses for this paper were performed on the Econometric Software Package (ESP).

References

References

AARONSON, David E., DIENES, C. Thomas, and Michael, MUSHENO (1978) “Changing the Public Drunkenness Laws: The Impact of Decriminalization,” 12 Law & Society Review 405.Google Scholar
AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION (1950-1975) Survey of Charges in Community Hospitals as of January 1. Chicago: American Hospital Association.Google Scholar
ALBRITTON, Robert B. (1979) “Measuring Public Policy: Impacts of the Supplemental Security Income Program,” 23 American Journal of Political Science 558.Google Scholar
BAUM, Lawrence A. (1978) “Response to Judicial Decisions by Policy-Makers: the Scholarship of the 1970s.” Paper delivered at a Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
CALABRESI, Guido (1970) The Costs of Accidents. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
CALDEIRA, Gregory A. and McCRONE, Donald J. (1982) “Of Time and Judicial Activism: A Study of the United States Supreme Court, 1800-1973, in Halpern, Stephen and Lamb, Charles (eds.), Supreme Court Activism and Restraint. Lexington: D.C. Heath.Google Scholar
CAMPBELL, Donald T. (1969) “Reforms as Experiments,” 24 American Psychologist 409.Google Scholar
CAMPBELL, Donald T. and Thomas D., COOK (1979) Quasi-Experimentation: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings. Chicago: Rand McNally.Google Scholar
CAMPBELL, Donald T. and Julian C., STANLEY (1963) Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research. Chicago: Rand McNally.Google Scholar
CANON, Bradley C. and Lawrence A., BAUM (1981) “Patterns of Adoption of Tort Law Innovations: An Application of Diffusion Theory to Judicial Doctrines,” 75 American Political Science Review 975.Google Scholar
CANON, Bradley C. and Dean, JAROS (1979) “The Impact of Changes in Judicial Doctrine: The Abrogation of Charitable Immunity,” 13 Law & Society Review 969.Google Scholar
COCHRANE, D. and Guy H., ORCUTT (1949) “Application of Least Squares Regression to Relationships Containing Auto-Correlated Error Terms,” 44 American Statistical Association Journal 32.Google Scholar
CROYLE, James L. (1979) “An Impact Analysis of Judge-Made Products Liability Policies,” 13 Law & Society Review 949.Google Scholar
CROYLE, James L. (1980) “A Policy Analysis of Medical Malpractice Jury Verdicts in California, 1964-1978.” Paper delivered at a Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
DONABEDIAN, Avedis (1976) Benefits in Medical Care Programs. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GLASS, Gene V. (1968) “Analysis of Data on the Connecticut Speeding Crackdown as a Time-Series Quasi-Experiment,” 3 Law & Society Review 55.Google Scholar
GLICK, Henry R. and Kenneth N., VINES (1973) State Court Systems. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
GRAY, Virginia (1976) “Models of Comparative State Politics: A Comparison of Cross-Sectional and Time Series Analyses,” 20 American Journal of Political Science 235.Google Scholar
GREEN, Leon, PEDRICK, Willard H., RAHL, James A., THODE, E. Wayne, HAWKINS, Carl S., SMITH, Allen E., and James M., TREECE (1977) Cases on the Law of Torts (2d ed.). St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing.Google Scholar
HARRIS, Peter (1979) “Some Predictors of the Interstate Diffusion of State Common Law, 1870-1970.” Paper delivered at a Meeting of the Law and Society Association, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
HARRIS, Peter (1980) “Problematic Cases and the Judicial Search for Authority.” Paper delivered at Meeting of the Law and Society Association, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
HOFFERBERT, Richard I. (1974) The Study of Public Policy. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.Google Scholar
HOROWITZ, Loucele A. and Dorothy P., RICE (1967) “Trends in Medical Care Prices,” 30 Social Security Bulletin 13.Google Scholar
JOHNSON, Charles A. (1979a) “Judicial Decisions and Organizational Change: Some Theoretical and Empirical Notes on State Court Decisions and State Administrative Agencies,” 14 Law & Society Review 27.Google Scholar
JOHNSON, Charles A. (1979b) “Judicial Decisions and Organizational Change: A Theory,” 11 Administration and Society 27.Google Scholar
JOHNSTON, John (1972) Econometric Methods (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
KAGAN, Robert A., CARTWRIGHT, Bliss, FRIEDMAN, Lawrence H., and Stanton, WHEELER (1977) “The Business of State Supreme Courts, 1870-1970,” 30 Stanford Law Review 121.Google Scholar
KAGAN, Robert A., CARTWRIGHT, Bliss, FRIEDMAN, Lawrence H., and Stanton, WHEELER (1978) “The Evolution of State Supreme Courts,” 76 Michigan Law Review 961.Google Scholar
KEETON, Robert E. (1969) Venturing to Do Justice: Reforming Private Law. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KEETON, Page and Robert E., KEETON (1977) Cases and Materials on the Law of Torts (2nd ed.). St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing.Google Scholar
KMENTA, Jan (1971) Elements of Econometrics. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
LANDES, William M. and Richard A., POSNER (1976) “Legal Precedent: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis,” 19 Journal of Law and Economics 249.Google Scholar
LEWIS-BECK, Michael S. (1979) “Some Economic Effects of Revolution: Models, Measurement, and the Cuban Experience,” 84 American Journal of Sociology 1127.Google Scholar
McCRONE, Donald J. and Richard, HARDY (1978) “Civil Rights Policies and the Achievement of Racial Economic Equality, 1948-1975,” 22 American Journal of Political Science 1.Google Scholar
McLAUCHLAN, William P. (1978) “The Social Costs of Tort Law.” Paper delivered at a Meeting of the American Political Science Association, New York.Google Scholar
PINDYCK, Robert S. and Daniel L., RUBINFELD (1976) Econometric Models and Economic Forecasts. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
PROSSER, William L. (1971) The Law of Torts (4th ed.). St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing.Google Scholar
PROSSER, William L. and John W., WADE (1971) Torts: Cases and Materials (5th ed.). Minneola, N.Y.: Foundation Press.Google Scholar
RABIN, Robert (1979) “Impact Analysis and Tort Law: A Comment,” 13 Law & Society Review 987.Google Scholar
ROSS, H. Laurence (1975) “The Scandanavian Myth: The Effectiveness of Drinking-and-Driving Legislation in Sweden and Norway,” 4 Journal of Legal Studies 285.Google Scholar
SHAPIRO, Martin M. (1970) “Decentralized Decision-Making in the Law of Torts,” in Ulmer, S. Sidney (ed.) Political Decision-Making. New York: Van Nostrand.Google Scholar
Ulmer, S. Sidney (1972) “From Public Law to Public Policy, or the ‘Public’ in ‘Public Law,‘” 5 PS. 410.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce (1975) Historical Statistics of the United States. Washington: United States Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
WALKER, Jack L. (1969) “The Diffusion of Innovations Among the American States,” 63 American Political Science Review 880.Google Scholar
WASBY, Stephen L. (1970) The Impact of the United States Supreme Court: Some Perspectives. Homewood, Illinois: Dorsey Press.Google Scholar
WHITE, G. Edward (1979) Tort Law in America: An Intellectual History. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Cases Cited

Collopy v. Newark Eye and Ear Infirmary, 27 N.J. 29, 141 A.2d 276, 297, 1958.Google Scholar
Feofees of Heriot's Hospital v. Ross, 12 C. and F. 507, 8 Eng. Rep., 1508 (England).Google Scholar
Flagiello v. Pennsylvania Hospital, 208 A.2d 193, 204, 1965.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Georgetown College v. Hughes, 76 U.S. App. D.C. 123, 130 F.2d 810, 1942.Google Scholar
McDonald v. Massachusetts General Hospital, 120 Mass. 432, 21 Am. Rep. 529, 1871.Google Scholar
Mersey Docks Trustees v. Gibbs, 11 H.L. Cas. 686, 1866 (England).Google Scholar
Perry v. House of Refuge, 63 Md. 20, 1885.Google Scholar
Pierce v. Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital Association, 43 W.2d 162, 260 P.2d 765, 766, 1953.Google Scholar
Vermillion v. Women's College of Due West, 104 S. C. 197, 88 S. E. 649, 1916.Google Scholar