The Court of Appeals has released two cases that appear to undermine the meaning of the "statutory" "gross negligence" exception, MCL 691.1407(2) under Michigan's Governmental Tort Liability Act (GTLA). The GTLA, MCL 691.1401 et seq., provides immunity for law enforcement officers and other individual governmental employees engaged in the discharge of a governmental function and while [...]
Tag: Governmental Immunity
“[The] killings [of American citizens] undertaken in accord with the public authority justification were not ‘unlawful’ because they were justified”, Says Government Memo Outlining Legal Authority for Assassination of American Citizens Abroad
I started casually reading the Second Circuit’s opinion released yesterday, June 23, 2014, in the case of New York Times, et al. v. DOJ, et al, which includes a redacted version of the government’s now infamous legal memorandum outlining legal justification for executive decisions to assassinate American citizens abroad and I could not help casually analyzing [...]
Lego v. Liss – State Files Appeal in Governmental Immunity Case Involving “Friendly Fire” Incident
Last week, the state of Michigan filed an Application for Leave to Appeal in the Michigan Supreme Court challenging the Court of Appeals (majority) opinion in this case Lego v. Liss, holding that a police officer could be subject to liability (and not immune) in an incident in which the officer shot another police officer [...]
Court of Appeals Holds Tree Laying on Roadway Surface Not a “Defect” in the “Highway” Under “Highway Exception” to Governmental Immunity
In Estate of Truett v. Wayne County.opn, the Court of Appeals (Judges Servitto (presiding), Beckering, and Fort Hood) unanimously held that a tree lying in the roadbed is not a "defect" within the meaning of the "highway exception" to governmental immunity under the Governmental Tort Liability Act (GTLA), MCL 691.1401, et seq. I briefed and [...]
Supreme Court Poised to Address Damages Claims Against Government for Negligent Operation of Motor Vehicles
As I mentioned in a previous post, the Michigan Supreme Court issued a reconsideration and Grant Order, and a Consolidation Order, with respect to the Court of Appeals' decisions in Hunter v. Sisco, et al. and Hannay v. MDOT cases and will consider them together as calendar cases in the fall. This is turning out to be a significant case both for [...]