Opinion ID: 45527
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mississippi's Consent to Suit

Text: 29 Through the MTCA, Mississippi waived its immunity in a limited fashion for certain tort actions. Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center v. Robinson, 876 So.2d 337, 339 (Miss.2004). By definition, the MTCA is the exclusive state remedy against a governmental entity and its employees for tortious acts or omissions which give rise to civil liability. MISS.CODE. ANN. § 11-46-7(1); Elkins v. McKenzie, 865 So.2d 1065, 1078 (Miss.2003) (internal citations omitted); L.W. v. McComb Separate Municipal School District, 754 So.2d 1136, 1138 (Miss.1999); Moore v. Carroll County, Mississippi, 960 F.Supp. 1084, 1088 (N.D.Miss.1997). For purposes of the MTCA, a school district is a political subdivision of the state. MISS.CODE ANN. § 11-46-1(i). The MTCA waives sovereign immunity for several types of claims against governmental entities and their employees acting in the course and scope of their employment. See MISS. CODE ANN. § 11-46-9. Its waiver of immunity is valid only to the extent the governmental entity carries excess liability insurance. MISS. CODE ANN. § 11-46-16(2); Lincoln County School District v. Doe, 749 So.2d 943 (Miss.1999) (school district did not carry effective liability insurance to waive immunity for plaintiff's personal injury claim). The Tort Claims Fund and self-insurance plans under the MTCA provide excess liability insurance for governmental entities against liabilities outside the provisions of this chapter, including but not limited to liabilities arising from Sections 1983 through 1987 of Title 42 of the United States Code ... MISS.CODE ANN. § 11-46-17(2); see also McGehee v. DePoyster, 708 So.2d 77, 82 (Miss.1998). The MTCA also preserves all immunities granted by the Eleventh Amendment of the United States Constitution. MISS.CODE ANN. § 11-46-5(4). 30 Black argues that because the MTCA did not expressly waive immunity for her federal claims, she was barred from asserting them in state court. Although the Mississippi Supreme Court has yet to explicitly hold that the MTCA's waiver of sovereign immunity is the exclusive waiver for all actions brought in state court, its decisions regarding the nature of federally created rights and the MTCA's excess liability insurance requirement suggest that the MTCA waives immunity for Black's federal claims. See McGehee, 708 So.2d at 82; Elkins, 865 So.2d at 1078. First, Mississippi distinguishes constitutional violations from ordinary torts. See Barrett v. Miller, 599 So.2d 559, 564 (Miss. 1992). It is well established that Mississippi courts share concurrent subject matter jurisdiction with federal courts in the enforcement of federally created rights. Burrell v. Mississippi State Tax Commission, 536 So.2d 848, 863 (Miss.1988); Elkins, 865 So.2d at 1071; see also Martinez v. California, 444 U.S. 277, 284, 100 S.Ct. 553, 558, 62 L.Ed.2d 481 (1980); Howlett by and through Howlett v. Rose, 496 U.S. 356, 379, n. 20, 110 S.Ct. 2430, 110 L.Ed.2d 332 (1990). When Mississippi courts enforce federally created rights, they must follow the federal interpretations of those rights. Burrell, 536 So.2d at 864; Howlett, 496 U.S. at 371, 110 S.Ct. at 2440. 31 Second, the MTCA notice requirement does not apply to § 1983 claims. McGehee, 708 So.2d at 81 (citing Felder v. Casey, 487 U.S. 131, 108 S.Ct. 2302, 101 L.Ed.2d 123 (1988)). The Mississippi Supreme Court recognized that enforcement of the MTCA notice requirement could yield different outcomes for § 1983 claims depending on whether they were brought in state or federal court. Id. at 81. This risk was impermissible because [s]tates may not apply such an outcome-determinative law when entertaining substantive federal rights in their courts. Id. at 81. Thus, the court acknowledged the supremacy of federal law governing federal causes of action. See id.; accord Felder, 487 U.S. at 138, 108 S.Ct. at 2306-07 (internal citations omitted); Howlett, 496 U.S. at 375, 110 S.Ct. at 2442. 32 Third, the MTCA fails to insulate the state and its subdivisions from liability for violations of constitutional rights. McGehee, 708 So.2d at 82 (specifically concluding that the MTCA expressly places § 1983 actions beyond its purview.). The MTCA's Tort Claims Fund establishes self-insurance plans for political subdivisions to provide coverage for liabilities outside the provisions of this chapter, including but not limited to liabilities arising from Sections 1983 through 1987 of Title 42 of the United States Code ... Id. (quoting MISS.CODE ANN. § 11-46-17(2) (emphasis omitted)). The Tort Claims Fund permits Mississippi's liability for its subdivisions' acts only to the extent that resulting judgments do not burden the state fisc. MISS.CODE ANN. § 11-46-5(1); see also McGehee, 708 So.2d at 82; Alden, 527 U.S. at 751, 119 S.Ct. at 2264-65. Although the MTCA does not explicitly waive immunity for federal causes of action, its acknowledgment and coverage of liabilities outside the MTCA effectively waives immunity. See MISS.CODE ANN. § 11-46-17(2); McGehee, 708 So.2d at 82. 33 Black's sovereign immunity argument is not novel. The Supreme Court addressed the question of whether a defense of sovereign immunity, unavailable in federal court, would be available to a school board otherwise subject to suit in state court. Howlett, 496 U.S. at 358-59, 110 S.Ct. at 2433. The petitioner, a former high school student, filed a state court complaint alleging § 1983 claims against his former school district and principal. Id. at 359, 110 S.Ct. at 2433. The school district argued that the state court lacked jurisdiction to hear the petitioner's federal claims because the state of Florida did not waive sovereign immunity for § 1983 claims asserted in state court. Id. at 359, 110 S.Ct. at 2434. The Court rejected the school district's argument, holding [t]o the extent that the Florida law of sovereign immunity reflects a substantial disagreement with the extent to which governmental entities should be held liable for their constitutional violations, that disagreement cannot override the dictates of federal law. Id. at 377-78, 110 S.Ct. at 2444. Thus, no state may employ its common law principles of sovereign immunity to redefine the contours of a federally created right or defense. Id. at 379-80, 110 S.Ct. at 2445 (internal citations and quotation marks omitted); accord Martinez, 444 U.S. at 284, n. 8, 100 S.Ct. at 558, n. 8; Felder, 487 U.S. at 151, 108 S.Ct. at 2313. Black's contention that by refusing to waive immunity, Mississippi could prohibit suits defending federal rights from state courts fails under Howlett.