BrianD
03-03-2005, 10:46 AM
This family apparently doesn't agree with our recent Darwin candidate. Apparently it is the sole responsibility of the city government to keep college kids from getting drunk and falling into a river.
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2005/03/02/news/02dion.txt
Dion's family sues city
By Kevin Murphy / Special to the Tribune
MADISON — The family of a college student who drowned in the Mississippi River in April 2004 has filed a lawsuit in federal court, saying the city of
La Crosse fostered binge drinking by providing a "drunk bus service" and allowing a "Little Las Vegas" of bars downtown.
The complaint was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Madison by the estate of Jared Dion, a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student from Pewaukee, Wis., who disappeared April 10, 2004, after a night of drinking downtown. His body was found in the river five days later.
The suit claims the city's "get home safe" bus ferried students, including Dion, from campus to Pearl and Third streets, an area of about 20 bars, "famous for intoxicated bartenders, $5 all-you-can-drink beer specials and underage drinking."
The "party atmosphere" is fueled by the city's "lax enforcement against intoxicated bartenders and underage drinking," the suit contends.
Also faulted in the suit is the city's Riverside Park area. Renovations to Riverside Park, beginning in 1997, brought more foot traffic to the riverfront without providing adequate pedestrian safeguards, according to the suit.
One section of the park that was improved for boat mooring now has a 5-inch concrete curb that could trip pedestrians, tumbling them into a relatively deep and swift section of the river, the suit claims. Installation of "deadman sheeting" to protect the harbor dock created a 52-inch barrier that can prevent a fallen person from "escaping the deadly clutches of the river."
When a city inspector warned of the dangers posed at the harbor dock, the city fired him instead of providing sufficient lighting or gate access to the dock, the suit claims.
All these factors contributed to Dion getting drunk, missing the last "drunk bus" back to the campus and dying "in the cold dark" water off the park docking area.
A few weeks after Dion's drowning, La Crosse Police Chief Edward Kondracki said at a public forum that he views the young men who drowned "as victims of an alcohol culture that target them and encourage binge drinking."
James Gende II, attorney for Dion's estate, declined to discuss the suit Tuesday, saying he would let the "pleadings speak for themselves."
The suit alleges violations of the Safe Place Act for the hazards and nuisances created in Riverside Park and negligence in failure to adequately train Municipal Transit Utility drivers who transport students to and from the downtown bars.
Named as defendants are the city; Randy Turtenwald, city engineer; Robert Berg, parks director; Keith Carlson, transit manager; Mayor John Medinger; Kenneth Dentice, buildings and inspections director; and Cities and Villages Mutual Insurance.
City Attorney Pat Houlihan said he was surprised the suit was filed in federal court because the allegations against the city and UW-La Crosse involve matters of state.
"Legally we will respond vigorously to the lawsuit. The city and the university and the community have taken progressive efforts to address the community concern regarding drinking," Houlihan said Tuesday. "The lawsuit attempts to portray the city and university as promoting binge drinking, that's as far from the truth as can be, because we have taken the leadership role to do something."
Medinger said the lawsuit is "a good example of no good deed goes unpunished."
"The city tried to keep drunk drivers off the road with a safe ride bus, and created an alcohol task force to deal with the national issue of binge drinking, and it is being used against us," Medinger said. "It is lawyers being lawyers."
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2005/03/02/news/02dion.txt
Dion's family sues city
By Kevin Murphy / Special to the Tribune
MADISON — The family of a college student who drowned in the Mississippi River in April 2004 has filed a lawsuit in federal court, saying the city of
La Crosse fostered binge drinking by providing a "drunk bus service" and allowing a "Little Las Vegas" of bars downtown.
The complaint was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Madison by the estate of Jared Dion, a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student from Pewaukee, Wis., who disappeared April 10, 2004, after a night of drinking downtown. His body was found in the river five days later.
The suit claims the city's "get home safe" bus ferried students, including Dion, from campus to Pearl and Third streets, an area of about 20 bars, "famous for intoxicated bartenders, $5 all-you-can-drink beer specials and underage drinking."
The "party atmosphere" is fueled by the city's "lax enforcement against intoxicated bartenders and underage drinking," the suit contends.
Also faulted in the suit is the city's Riverside Park area. Renovations to Riverside Park, beginning in 1997, brought more foot traffic to the riverfront without providing adequate pedestrian safeguards, according to the suit.
One section of the park that was improved for boat mooring now has a 5-inch concrete curb that could trip pedestrians, tumbling them into a relatively deep and swift section of the river, the suit claims. Installation of "deadman sheeting" to protect the harbor dock created a 52-inch barrier that can prevent a fallen person from "escaping the deadly clutches of the river."
When a city inspector warned of the dangers posed at the harbor dock, the city fired him instead of providing sufficient lighting or gate access to the dock, the suit claims.
All these factors contributed to Dion getting drunk, missing the last "drunk bus" back to the campus and dying "in the cold dark" water off the park docking area.
A few weeks after Dion's drowning, La Crosse Police Chief Edward Kondracki said at a public forum that he views the young men who drowned "as victims of an alcohol culture that target them and encourage binge drinking."
James Gende II, attorney for Dion's estate, declined to discuss the suit Tuesday, saying he would let the "pleadings speak for themselves."
The suit alleges violations of the Safe Place Act for the hazards and nuisances created in Riverside Park and negligence in failure to adequately train Municipal Transit Utility drivers who transport students to and from the downtown bars.
Named as defendants are the city; Randy Turtenwald, city engineer; Robert Berg, parks director; Keith Carlson, transit manager; Mayor John Medinger; Kenneth Dentice, buildings and inspections director; and Cities and Villages Mutual Insurance.
City Attorney Pat Houlihan said he was surprised the suit was filed in federal court because the allegations against the city and UW-La Crosse involve matters of state.
"Legally we will respond vigorously to the lawsuit. The city and the university and the community have taken progressive efforts to address the community concern regarding drinking," Houlihan said Tuesday. "The lawsuit attempts to portray the city and university as promoting binge drinking, that's as far from the truth as can be, because we have taken the leadership role to do something."
Medinger said the lawsuit is "a good example of no good deed goes unpunished."
"The city tried to keep drunk drivers off the road with a safe ride bus, and created an alcohol task force to deal with the national issue of binge drinking, and it is being used against us," Medinger said. "It is lawyers being lawyers."