 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Laney v. Fairview City8/9/2002
holding its constitutionality. Id. at 794. We noted that only good faith providers were immunized. Id. The immunity applied only during the emergency and not after the emergency had ended. Id. Additionally, it applied only to medical doctors who had no pre-existing duty to render aid. Id. We commented:
We think these limitations indicate the reasonableness of the act. The statute does not cut an unnecessarily wide swath through causes of action against medical providers. Rather, immunity is provided under limited circumstances and only for the purpose of encouraging potentially life-saving emergency medical care. Therefore, we think the act is a reasonable attempt to eliminate a clear social evil and does not violate article I, section 11 of the Utah Constitution. Id.
In the instant case, the legislature has defined all activities of municipalities as governmental action, regardless of their nature. In its sweep, the operation of both a sewer system and a golf course is governmental, along with the operation of a municipal electrical power system, even though the potential for negligently causing death by the municipality is vastly greater in the latter activity and the standard of care is thus much higher.
If large verdicts are vexatious to cities, a reasonable approach might be to create very limited immunities to address specific problems, or to place "caps" on the amount of damages, as the legislature has done elsewhere in the Governmental Immunity Act. Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-34 (Supp. 2001). This court has, for example, upheld statutory caps on judgments for damages for personal injury against a governmental entity. McCorvey v. Utah DOT, 868 P.2d 41, 48 (Utah 1993). The immunization of all municipal activities was not justified by any legislative investigation, findings, or relevant history.
We therefore hold that the 1987 amendment is unconstitutional as it applies to municipalities operating electrical power systems. The amendment fails to meet the second prong of the Berry test. No clear social or economic evil has been specifically identified, and the broad sweep of the amendment is arbitrary and unreasonable when applied to the operation of a municipal electrical power system, where a high duty of care is imposed. We express no opinion on the constitutionality of the amendment as applied to other municipal activities since a lower standard of care may apply and different considerations may be relevant.
CONCLUSION
We hold that the acts, omissions, or decisions of the City not to raise the height of, insulate, or provide further warnings on its power lines fall within the discretionary function exception of the Utah Governmental Immunity Act, Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-10. We also hold that Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-2(4)(a), under a Berry analysis, violates Article I, section 11, the open courts clause, of the Utah Constitution. We thus reverse the trial court's summary judgment and remand for a trial on the merits of appellants' claims.
Justice Howe concurs in Chief Justice Durham's opinion.
RUSSON, Justice, concurring:
I concur, but for different reasons than stated by Chief Justice Durham. The Chief Justice seems to accept that the legislature can, by statute, declare activities previously held to be proprietary to be governmental if that statute meets the Berry test. I disagree. In my opinion, the legislature cannot declare that which is proprietary to be governmental. While the legislature can pass laws affecting "governmental activities" as well as "proprietary activities," it cannot change the true nature of such activities. The operation of a golf course, farm, or store will al
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Utah Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|