Opinion ID: 2264462
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: N.J.S.A. 59:3-3 of the Tort Claims Act

Text: Plaintiff also claims damages under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:1-1 to-12-3. N.J.S.A. 59:3-3 states: A public employee is not liable if he acts in good faith in the execution of enforcement of any law. Nothing in this section exonerates a public employee from liability for false arrest or false imprisonment. The same standard of objective reasonableness that applies in Section 1983 actions also governs questions of good faith arising under the Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:9-3. Lear v. Township of Piscataway, 236 N.J.Super. 550, 553, 566 A. 2d 557 (App.Div.1989); Hayes v. Mercer County, 217 N.J.Super. 614, 621-22, 526 A. 2d 737 (App.Div.) (holding marked similarities between facts known about indicted man and facts known about plaintiff coupled with plaintiff's refusal to submit to photographic identification established objective reasonableness of investigator's initiating investigation against wrong man), certif. denied, 108 N.J. 643, 532 A. 2d 226 (1987).