Maui County Delivers Final Blow

[Thalassamania]

Thal, After a little help from Mr. Google, I found the following from a 9th C. case:

Obviously something only a geek attorney would find interesting..

Interesting, that's not what I had been told, but perhaps I asked the wrong question. That relates to actions by employees of the state, what about what we are looking at here (and what I had inquired about in a slightly different context: a suit brought against the state or municipality based not on the negligence of an employee, but rather as a result of the ownership of a location?

 

[Peter Guy]

Thal -- Here are the relevant statutes:

§662-2 Waiver and liability of State. The State hereby waives its immunity for liability for the torts of its employees and shall be liable in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances, but shall not be liable for interest prior to judgment or for punitive damages.

Here is a link to the Hawaii Code

It is very clear that tort immunity was waived for the state and its political subdivisions.

 

[Thalassamania]

I'm guessing that this not a blanket concept: "Where plaintiffs seek injunction for unconstitutional acts and damages, sovereign immunity bars suit. 68 H. 192, 708 P.2d 129, cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1169." But needs to be looked at situation by situation.

 

[Scubaman7596]

Illegitimi non carborundum!

Oh boy do I know who youve been talking to.

Doug...the things you do for diving....:blinking:

Good luck!!

Doug I don't know ya. But ive read what people say about you on this board and other places over the past year or so.

If this stuff becomes to much over there. Put your van in a container Ship it to kauai.

I'll give you a place to live, a place to park your van, clean and store your equiptment, pump your tanks.

Scuba diving needs people like you doug!! And we will work it out for that sake.

There is not much i can do over in Maui to help you, But here I can and I will.

 

[Peter Guy]

Thal, just to continue the hijack -- With my limited resources (here in my kitchen) I can't find the Hawaiian case that is referenced. I would find it more than "passing strange" that the concept of sovereign immunity would prohibit a state court from enjoining the enforcement of an ordinance that the court found to be unconstitutional. That would fly in the face of over 200 years of US jurisprudence going back to Marbury vs. Madison. I'd need to look at that particular case to see just what is really at issue.

--END OF HIJACK--

 

[Thalassamania]

Sorry Peter, not at all what I was getting at (but this is Hawaii and stranger things happen daily). I was speaking to the idea that the government wanted insurance that named them as additional insured, something that I suspect is entirely irrelevant because you can not (or so I'm told) sue the government here just because you get hurt on land (or in water) that they own.

 

[KrisB]

Sorry Peter, not at all what I was getting at (but this is Hawaii and stranger things happen daily). I was speaking to the idea that the government wanted insurance that named them as additional insured, something that I suspect is entirely irrelevant because you can not (or so I'm told) sue the government here just because you get hurt on land (or in water) that they own.

Thal,

Being named in a lawsuit is just as hazardous to one's pocketbook as actually losing. Sometimes moreso.

Anyone can name anyone in a lawsuit... then it's up to having lawyers good enough to win. Regardless, both sides lose huge dollars in paying lawyers -- really, the only people that win in the US legal system are the lawyers.

 

[Peter Guy]

Continuing the Hijack -- Thal, I understand the issue of sovereign immunity and tort liability. Pretty clearly the referenced statute waives sovereign immunity for torts against the state and its subdivisions.

Now why Maui County wants to have itself to be a named insured is a whole 'nuther subject. I'd guess it is just that someone in the county knew this was done in "the private sector" so they decided to do it for them. It is probably just another indication of how nuts this whole regulatory scheme is.

 

[Shaka Doug]

Here's my testimony if you'd like to see it...

The recess break just finished and I was waiting for council members and other key attendees to show. They were either late to thier seats or didn't show at all

 

[kidspot]

that was really quite sad Doug sounded like you were once again speaking to an "empty room" ... even if people were there.