Eiger v. Garrity

Background

Delia Garrity, the wife of William J. Garrity, sued Clarence Green under Illinois’s Dram Shop law after Green, who ran a saloon at 134 North Dearborn Street, sold liquor that helped make her husband habitually intoxicated. She obtained a jury verdict and judgment for $1,500 after Green failed to appear; the judgment followed a default entered September 26, 1912, and trial evidence heard October 2, 1914. Garrity then asked a court to charge the owner-landlords’ building with a lien under §10 so the property could be sold to satisfy the judgment, and the Illinois Supreme Court upheld that relief.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the Illinois law that makes premises liable in these cases deprived the owners of property without due process. The Court explained that the State has broad power to regulate the liquor traffic and to guard public health and welfare. Under the statute, an owner who rented or knowingly permitted a building to be used for selling intoxicating liquors can be held responsible. The Court said the landlord is not stripped of rights without notice: the owner can contest that a lease authorized liquor sales, deny knowledge, and challenge the underlying judgment except for fraud or collusion.

Real world impact

The decision means owners who lease or knowingly allow premises to be used as saloons can face liens and sale of their property to satisfy dram-shop judgments. Property owners may protect themselves by lease terms, rent amounts, or by disputing knowledge of the use. The ruling affirms a State’s power to tie property liability to uses that cause harm to others’ means of support.