From a wrongful death complaint filed William and Tamara Bump, the parents of the late Edward Andrew Bump, against the "Boomtown" bar of Mankato Minnesota:

Edward Bump was served alcohol even though he was a minor, and in addition was in an obviously intoxicated condition. … He left the bar with his friends and later, while under the influence of the alcohol, he sustained injuries that were fatal.

Unfortunately, the complaint is a little vague on the mechanism by which Mr. Bump sustained fatal injuries.  Was he killed in a wreck, the passenger of his drunken friends?  No.  In fact, he hung himself in a successful suicide attempt.

[Bump's girlfriend] called police at 6:04 a.m. Nov. 2, 2007, after finding Bump dead, the initial police report said. She told the first officer to arrive that she last saw Bump alive earlier that morning. She had gone to sleep in her roommate’s room sometime between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. after Bump started yelling at her.

Given that Bump was a 19 year old college student, it would be surprising if this was his first encounter with alcohol.  19 year olds of course are as capable, physically, of absorbing alcohol as 21 year olds.  But even if Bump was a virgin to alcohol on the night of his death, we all have to start drinking sometime.  Or not.  It's an individual choice, one denied at law to 19 year olds, but that doesn't stop them, nor would it have stopped Bump, who continued to drink at his girlfriend's apartment after leaving the bar.  The girlfriend, of course, is not being sued, nor should she be sued.  She's no more responsible than the bar.
It's difficult to imagine that "carding" Bump on one occasion would have stopped a deeply troubled young man from engaging in self-destructive behavior in the future.  While I'm not a Minnesota lawyer, the suit filed by Bump's grieving parents seems to be a sure loser.  No reasonable jury would find that a few beers caused this tragedy.  Most reasonable judges wouldn't let the case get that far.

The family is concerned not just over this case, but others,” [family attorney David] Johnson said Wednesday. “It’s just a matter of seeking justice for the family, that’s my intent in this. And, if there’s a problem in Mankato, maybe this will help change that somehow.

Obviously there is a problem in Mankato.  Bars are serving alcohol to underage drinkers in violation of the law.  There is a solution to the problem: the bars should have their licenses stripped, or should be fined. What won't solve this problem, or give the family justice, is the case of Bump v. Boomtown.  All it will do is feed an attorney's ego, and lead to further heartbreak for the family when someone finds that the only party responsible for the death was Edward Bump himself.

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