The question in Palsgraf, the dissenting judge said, isn’t really about knowledge of the fireworks. It’s where you want to start the causal chain. Once you decide that, you have decided the meaning of the whole story. Palsgraf is a civil case. Proximate cause, as a formal named concept, doesn’t exist in criminal law. Criminal law doesn’t care where the story began. But how you tell the story has everything to do with how you judge. Begin Ricky’s story with the murder—and it means one thing. Begin it with the crash—and it means another. Begin with what my grandfather did to me and my sister. Or
...more
