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Full-Text Articles in Law

Alden V. Maine And State Sovereign Immunity Original Intent Or An Intent Congenial To The Court's Desires, Jeffrey H. Canja Jan 2000

Alden V. Maine And State Sovereign Immunity Original Intent Or An Intent Congenial To The Court's Desires, Jeffrey H. Canja

Cleveland State Law Review

In Alden v. Maine the Supreme Court considered whether Congress, pursuant to its Article I powers, can subject a nonconsenting state to a private suit for damages in the state's own courts. Alternatively viewed, the question was whether a state has sovereign immunity which precludes such suits. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Article I of the Constitution does not grant Congress the power to subject a nonconsenting state to a private suit for damages in the state's own courts. The decision represents a direct extension of the federalism developed by the Court in Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, …


Suing A State In Federal Court Under A Private Cause Of Action: An Eleventh Amendment Primer, Donald L. Boren Jan 1989

Suing A State In Federal Court Under A Private Cause Of Action: An Eleventh Amendment Primer, Donald L. Boren

Cleveland State Law Review

A major obstacle facing an attorney, whose client is suing a state in federal court under a right created by a federal law, is the restraints placed on the federal court's jurisdiction by the eleventh amendment to the United States Constitution. The purpose of this article is to provide assistance through this wonderland of eleventh amendment jurisprudence. This article examines three major eleventh amendment issues, plus-and perhaps more importantly-methods of avoiding eleventh amendment litigation. Section I of the article examines the historical evidence on whether the amendment was intended to apply to cases in which a citizen of a state …


The Rise And Fall Of Sovereign Immunity In Ohio, Frank D. Celebrezze, Karen B. Hull Jan 1984

The Rise And Fall Of Sovereign Immunity In Ohio, Frank D. Celebrezze, Karen B. Hull

Cleveland State Law Review

The doctrine of sovereign immunity for municipal corporations has long reigned in Ohio. Although the judiciary and the General Assembly have imposed limitations, the doctrine has survived as a principle of Ohio law for over 140 years. However, the Supreme Court of Ohio reversed the trend and abrogated the doctrine in a series of cases in December 1982 and in the spring of the 1983 term. This comment examines the historical development of sovereign immunity for tort claims in Ohio, the limitations subsequently imposed on the immunity and its abrogation in those recent supreme court cases.


Tort Claims Against The State: Comparative And Categorical Analyses Of The Ohio Court Of Claims Act And Interpretations Of The Act In Tort Litigation Against The State, Lawrence P. Wilkins Jan 1979

Tort Claims Against The State: Comparative And Categorical Analyses Of The Ohio Court Of Claims Act And Interpretations Of The Act In Tort Litigation Against The State, Lawrence P. Wilkins

Cleveland State Law Review

Upon passage of the Ohio Court of Claims Act of 1975, the State of Ohio waived its sovereign immunity and consented to be sued in a court established solely for that purpose. Within a relatively short period of time, the Ohio Court of Claims has made a significant imprint on the development of tort law in Ohio, distinguishing itself in its efforts to provide an effective forum for those injured by the state or one of its instrumentalities while defining the limits beyond which state liability for tortious conduct will not extend. As might be expected of a new court …


The Supreme Court And The Tort Claims Act: End Of An Enlightened Era, Richard Krotseng Jan 1978

The Supreme Court And The Tort Claims Act: End Of An Enlightened Era, Richard Krotseng

Cleveland State Law Review

Recent decisions of the Court interpreting the Federal Tort Claims Act, including Laird v. Nelms and Stencel Aero Engineering Corp. v. United States, and to a lesser extent, Logue v. United States and United States v. Orleans, indicate a definite shift away from the Supreme Court's broad view of the Act, towards a much narrower concept of governmental tort liability. It is the purpose of this note to document and analyze this rather drastic shift in construction of the FTCA, in light of the past precedents, legislative history and public policy.


Sovereign Immunity - An Argument Con, Steven A. Sindell Jan 1973

Sovereign Immunity - An Argument Con, Steven A. Sindell

Cleveland State Law Review

Under the concept of sovereign or governmental immunity, a state may not be sued in tort without its consent. This doctrine, though the subject of repeated judicial challenges, is adhered to in a significant number of jurisdictions. It is the contention of this article that the reason for the rule no longer exists and that it should, therefore, be abolished as a controlling legal principle. Moreover, it is submitted that sovereign immunity violates the due process and equal protection.


Sovereign Immunity Abrogated In Ohio: Krause V. State, James B. Wilkens Jan 1972

Sovereign Immunity Abrogated In Ohio: Krause V. State, James B. Wilkens

Cleveland State Law Review

The decision thus promulgates three principal rulings: (1) that sovereign immunity does not provide a bar to bringing an action against the State of Ohio, (2) that the state is liable by virtue of the doctrine of respondeat superior for the authorized activities of its officers, employees and other agents, and (3) that freedom of individual agents from civil liability arising out of authorized activities for the state is retained. The effects of these rulings are far from obvious, in large part because of the confused prior state of the law upon which they are engrafted. Furthermore, the grounds given …


Delay In Notice Of Tort Claim Against A Government Agency, William P. Farrall Jan 1971

Delay In Notice Of Tort Claim Against A Government Agency, William P. Farrall

Cleveland State Law Review

Despite an onslaught of criticism and a rationale predicated on the discredited doctrine of Divine Right of Kings, the rule of sovereign immunity still exists in many states. As a result of this anachronism, municipalities and other subdivisions of state government have continued to escape liability for the tortious conduct of their agents. This situation has persisted despite a tendency by the courts to restrict rather than extend the principle of immunity. Statutory enactments such as short term notice provisions applied against potential plaintiffs by states and their subdivisions, when strictly construed by the courts, have had the effect of …


Governmental Liability For Inadequate Traffic Sign, Robert C. Egger Jan 1970

Governmental Liability For Inadequate Traffic Sign, Robert C. Egger

Cleveland State Law Review

Because the gratuitous rider situation, and others, provide a need fora clear rule as to the standard of care required of a governmental agency with regard to highway signing and because the results of present cases seem to be at great variance, this paper is presented as an attempt to set forth and clarify the existing standards and to propose a practical rule for uniform adoption. Thus, the material below is confined to a study of only the standard by which the adequacy of highway signing is measured in determining the liability of a governmental agency upon an allegation naming …


Birth And Death And Governmental Immunity, Verne Lawyer Jan 1966

Birth And Death And Governmental Immunity, Verne Lawyer

Cleveland State Law Review

Much as been written concerning the doctrine of governmental immunity and the doubtful justice of its application. This article is aimed toward a discussion of the role of the courts in the rise and decline of the doctrine in the United States with primary emphasis upon the reasoning behind the court decisions. The multitude of cases in which this doctrine is invoked presents a zig-zag pattern of conflict in the thinking of the courts, some of which adhere to a rigid rule of stare decisis, others of which attempt to modify and adapt the doctrine to the rapidly expanding present …


Governmental Immunity Of County Hospitals, Alice K. Henry Jan 1964

Governmental Immunity Of County Hospitals, Alice K. Henry

Cleveland State Law Review

The weight of authority holds that ownership and maintenance of a county hospital is a governmental function, even though the hospital is maintained for profit, and the county charges for treatment.


Federal Tort Claims Act Summarized, Russell E. Ake Jan 1957

Federal Tort Claims Act Summarized, Russell E. Ake

Cleveland State Law Review

To attempt a brief summary of the Federal Tort Claims Act may be likened to an attempt to explain atomic energy in ten words. But such a summary may be of some usefulness to our esteemed adversaries - the plaintiff's counsel in FTCA cases. Like most statutes, both state and federal, the text of this Act is encompassed within a few paragraphs. Then there follows a welter of interpretations, exceptions, and constructions. However, I shall attempt to hit the high spots and see if we can't come at least to a general understanding of what it's about and what it …