A novel approach to make public schools liable for campus violence under a measure is advancing in Colorado, even as lawmakers from both parties wonder whether liability will prevent the next mass shooting, reports the Associated Press.
The bill that won bipartisan approval 4-1 in the Senate Judiciary Committee waives the state’s governmental immunity and allows victims or their relatives to collect up to $350,000 for violence “when the harm is reasonably foreseeable.”
The bill is a response to several fatal school shootings, most recently a 2013 shooting at Arapahoe High School in Littleton, Colo. The parents of the victim, Claire Davis, have said the school ignored repeated warning signs from shooter Karl Pierson, who turned the gun on himself after shooting Claire.
The Davises said the liability measure would give schools more incentive to identify dangerous children and to share more information when violence occurs.
