Article Title
Delay in Notice of Tort Claim against a Government Agency
Abstract
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 a short term statute of limitation. The result of such construction is the exacerbation of the fiction of immunity.