In December 2008, the Florida Supreme Court handed down a significant opinion which held that liability waivers which parents signed for their children to participate in commercial activities were NOT valid. The Florida Legislature, encouraged by the Florida tourism industry, was quick to act with House Bill 363/Senate Bill 886 which would essentially “reverse” the Court’s interpretation and permit businesses to use child liability waivers.
The Orlando Sentinel recently ran an insightful April 17 piece on the issue, Dilemma: How to let kids take risks, be safe from negligence. The article accurately set out the opposing camps, with businesses on one side and activists/plaintiff lawyers on the other.
The article missed, however, the provocative April 15, 2009 Staff Analysis which challenged the Kirton v Fields opinion as “new law solely based on [the Court's] subjective assessment of ‘good’ pubic policy.” It also advanced that the Court had acted “in violation of the separation of powers provision of the Florida Constitution.”
You can follow the progress of House Bill 363 here.