Article by David W. Robertson
This Article focuses on tort suits in state court against the state of Louisiana, its agencies, and local governmental units. It does not deal with the immunity from federal court suits conferred on the states by the eleventh amendment to the United States Constitution, with litigation based on federal civil rights statutes, or with the liability of public officers and employees. The Article reviews the historical development of governmental immunity from tort liability in Louisiana, particularly the key enactment of article 12, section 10 in the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, as well as the many statutes that have been passed in recent years. It concludes that Louisiana's present scheme of governmental immunity from torts is a hodgepodge of provisions whose contours remain uncertain and whose constitutionality is often questionable. Louisiana could be better served by a comprehensive tort claims act like those in existence at the federal level and in many states.
About the Author
David W. Robertson. A.W. Walker Centennial Chair in Law, University of Texas.
Citation
64 Tul. L. Rev. 857 (1990)