Claus(e) And Effect
In a sign that the times have changed for the worse, the United States Postal Service, which has for many years turned Christmas letters from needy children over to volunteer "Santas" to help the kids out is now requiring all the volunteers to sign waivers. The waiver asks that volunteers release the USPS from any and all liability for, "all causes of action, claims, liens, rights or interests of any kind or type whatsoever."
For nearly 100 years, Postal Service employees have sorted through the Santa letters and passed many on to volunteers, charitable groups and corporations that want to help. Volunteers could call an 800 number to receive information on a deserving child or go online to answer the Santa letters.
This year, for the first time, those volunteers will have to present photo identification and sign a waiver releasing the Postal Service from liability for "all causes of action, claims, liens, rights or interests of any kind or type whatsoever."
There have been no lawsuits or accusations of impropriety.
Some people are, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about the decision:
"This is absurd," says John Andrews, a former president of the Colorado Senate who specializes in tort reform at the Claremont Institute, a conservative public policy think tank in California. "You would think the North Pole is one place on Earth that is safe from the trial lawyers and the litigation experts."
"Operation Santa" has been a voluntary effort by postal workers and people in the community for almost a century. Sadly, I suspect it will go into decline from here on out. Our society is a poorer place because of things like this.
By Snooper, Friday, 23 November , 2007 @ 5:09 pm
One word…retarded.
By feeblemind, Friday, 23 November , 2007 @ 7:28 pm
I am sure lawyers for the USPS came up with this to relieve them of liability in case a nutcase gives a tot a jack-in-the-bomb instead of a jack-in-the-box. Given the history of the program, the risks appear miniscule. On the other hand I can’t see the donors assuming liability. What if a child is given a sack of candy but becomes ill from a different source, and the trial lawyers sue the donor anyway? Yep. I agree Gaius. It could be the death knell of the program. Too bad for the kids. Thank you trial lawyers.