Submitted by Barry Popik, Mar 3, 2008 03:49

The Vallone legislation is the right thing. Jumping off tall buildings (and in Corliss's case, without approval from--or even advance knowledge to--the building's owner and local authorities) cannot be tolerated in New York City. The legislation should include all types of daredevils--those who climb up as well as those who jump off.

The city's "reckless endangerment" charge should have been legally successful, IMHO. How Corliss's lawyer proved that jumping off the Empire State Building onto a crowded NYC street is 100% safe (when it hasn't been done before) is beyond belief.

The Empire State Building should prevail in its civil suit;. (Corliss countersued for $30 million of emotional distress?) The jumper's lawyer makes legal arguments that are just a joke:

"When a person like Jeb Corliss jumps off one of these landmarks, as this legislation is concerned about, there is no danger to the jumper or the people below because he is a skilled, trained athlete," Mr. Heller said. "He studied the jump for a substantial amount of time. He knew what the traffic light timings were, he knew what the wind conditions were, and he knew he would not be endangering himself or anyone else."

He added that Mr. Corliss was "exercising his constitutional right to freedom of expression" when he attempted to leap from the city's tallest building.

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