Opinion ID: 4564565
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: conclusion

Text: Over 50 years ago, the Legislature set the parameters for the State’s immunity from suit in various scenarios. This court strictly construes those parameters. We conclude that in this case, the State has immunity from suit under the intentional tort exception. As such, the district court did not err in dismissing Moser’s complaint. The decision of the district court is affirmed. Affirmed. Freudenberg, J., not participating. Miller-Lerman, J., dissenting. I respectfully disagree with the majority’s conclusion to dismiss this complaint based on immunity where the complaint generally alleges that the death of an inmate was negligently caused by the State’s violating its duties and its formal regulations, and specifically alleges that the State’s employees negligently “doubled bunked” a “talkative” inmate “days away from his parole hearing” with an expected release date in 8 months with a known “bad temper[ed]” inmate serving a life sentence, the latter of whom after 5 days of sharing a cell “wrapped his arm around [the former’s] neck and squeezed for five minutes” until “he felt certain [the former] was dead.” In Doe v. Omaha Pub. Sch. Dist., 273 Neb. 79, 727 N.W.2d 447 (2007), this court followed the reasoning of the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Sheridan v. United States, 487 U.S. 392, 108 S. Ct. 2449, 101 L. Ed. 2d 352 (1988), but today the majority chooses instead to follow the dissent in Sheridan and overrules Doe based on its dubious notion that the U.S. Supreme Court and the Nebraska Supreme Court interpret the same statutory language so differently that adhering to - 33 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 307 Nebraska Reports MOSER v. STATE Cite as 307 Neb. 18 U.S. Supreme Court precedent would offend Nebraska. As explained below, finding no meaningful difference between statutory interpretation habits of the Nebraska Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court in this regard and reading the language of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-8,219(4) (Reissue 2014) in the context of the State Tort Claims Act provisions of which it is a part, I conclude that the intentional tort assault exception to the waiver of sovereign immunity does not apply; hence, the State is subject to suit in this case. This is one of a number of recent cases in which the State introduced a new theory for the first time on appeal—in this instance, in its appellate brief. See Candyland, LLC v. Nebraska Liquor Control Comm., ante p. 169, 944 N.W.2d 740 (2020) (Miller-Lerman, J., concurring) (noting that theory raised for first time at oral argument); State v. Vann, ante p. 91, 944 N.W.2d 503 (2020), (Miller-Lerman, J., concurring) (­noting that theory raised for first time at oral argument resulted in overruling precedent). Unlike its approach in the trial court, the State now contends that Doe, supra, should be overruled and that the complaint should be dismissed based on the intentional tort assault exception to the waiver of sovereign immunity. Although appellant may have a heavy burden in being able to prove negligence by the State, in my view, she has alleged sufficient facts described below to survive a motion to dismiss. The complaint filed by Telena Moser, as personal represent­ ative of the estate of Terry L. Berry, Jr., alleged that the State was negligent when on April 10, 2017, it placed Berry in the same restrictive housing cell as Patrick W. Schroeder at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution (TSCI). On April 15, Schroeder wrapped his arm around Berry’s neck and squeezed for 5 minutes until he felt certain Berry was dead. Restrictive housing is defined by Neb. Rev. Stat. § 83-170(13) (Cum. Supp. 2016) as “conditions of confinement that provide limited contact with other offenders, strictly controlled movement while out of cell, and out-of-cell time of less than twenty-four - 34 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 307 Nebraska Reports MOSER v. STATE Cite as 307 Neb. 18 hours per week.” The purpose of restrictive housing is to separate a violent inmate from the general population or to separate an inmate at risk of violence from the general population. According to the allegations, Schroeder was serving a life sentence for first degree murder, was known for “having a bad temper,” and expressly warned a caseworker of his unwillingness to bunk with Berry. Berry was days away from a parole hearing, with a tentative release date of December 8, 2017. According to the allegations, although TSCI unit managers knew of the risks and warnings associated with placing Berry and Schroeder together, they nonetheless decided to house the inmates together. A staff member had expressed her concerns regarding the placement to several other staff members, stating that she “‘personally felt that it was not the best idea,’” since Berry “‘was known to be very talkative and bothersome,’” and that Schroeder “‘in for life, with a temper[,] would not want someone like’” Berry as a cellmate. The complaint alleges the following failures of the TSCI staff: • “Two unit managers of TSCI were responsible for making the joint decision to double bunk Berry and Schroeder in restrictive housing, but they failed to complete the statement required by Administrative Regulation 210.01, wherein they state why the cell assignment provides each cellmate with reasonable safety from assault.” • “Further, the unit managers did not complete the compatibility assessment until after each inmate was warned that they would be double bunked with another inmate if they did not comply with the directive to move cells.” • “In short, TSCI staff did not follow proper procedure required by Administrative Regulation 210.01(VIII)(G).” STATUTORY INTERPRETATION OF THE ASSAULT EXCEPTION IS THE SAME IN NEBRASKA AND U.S. SUPREME COURT At issue is the meaning of the “arising out of assault” language found in the State Tort Claims Act, § 81-8,219(4), and its federal counterpart in the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), - 35 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 307 Nebraska Reports MOSER v. STATE Cite as 307 Neb. 18 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h) (2012), and specifically, whether this intentional tort exception to the waiver of sovereign immunity applies when the State is being sued for its allegedly negligent acts which occurred before an assault was committed by a nongovernmental actor. We have stated that the waiver of sovereign immunity should be strictly construed and, as a corollary thereto, that the exceptions should be read broadly. See Brown v. State, 305 Neb. 111, 939 N.W.2d 354 (2020). We have specifically applied this approach to the intentional tort exception portion of the State Tort Claims Act, § 81-8,219(4), which exception is derived from the FTCA. See Jill B. & Travis B. v. State, 297 Neb. 57, 899 N.W.2d 241 (2017). The U.S. Supreme Court has addressed the waiver of sovereign immunity and the “arising out of assault” exception language. Just like Nebraska, the U.S. Supreme Court has stated that a sovereign immunity waiver “will be strictly construed . . . in favor of the sovereign.” Lane v. Pena, 518 U.S. 187, 192, 116 S. Ct. 2092, 135 L. Ed. 2d 486 (1996). And just like Nebraska, one justice has summarized the applicable U.S. Supreme Court law as follows: “In cases where, as here, the question whether a particular claim is subject to an exception is disputed, we have construed the FTCA exceptions broadly to preclude claims for actions Congress intended to except from the FTCA’s general waiver of immunity.” Dolan v. Postal Service, 546 U.S. 481, 499 n.3, 126 S. Ct. 1252, 163 L. Ed. 2d 1079 (2006) (Thomas, J., dissenting). The U.S. Supreme Court has warned, however, that “‘unduly generous interpretations of the exceptions run the risk of defeating the central purpose of the statute,’ . . . which ‘waives the Government’s immunity from suit . . . .’” Id., 546 U.S. at 492 (Thomas, J., dissenting). And we too have resisted the temptation to accord unduly generous interpretations of exceptions which would defeat the waiver. See, e.g., Brown, 305 Neb. at 122, 939 N.W.2d at 361 (declining to read language of exception “so broadly” that it “would judicially expand” exception). - 36 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 307 Nebraska Reports MOSER v. STATE Cite as 307 Neb. 18 Applying U.S. Supreme Court precedent and according a broad reading to the exception provisions of the FTCA to a fact pattern akin to the instant case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit stated: “Despite the broad reading given to [the FTCA] section 2680(h)’s ‘arising out of’ language [equivalent to Nebraska’s § 81-8,219(4)], [the section] may not bar mixed claims of negligence and intentional conduct in the relatively uncommon case” where the negligence claim is independent of the intentional tort. Guccione v. U.S., 847 F.2d 1031, 1037 (2d Cir. 1988). So even applying a broad reading to the intentional tort exception, cases like the instant matter are not barred where there is independent negligence by the government. Given the above, the Nebraska Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court clearly share the same approach to the statutory language at issue. Nevertheless, without making an apt comparison, the majority insists the Nebraska approach to statutory interpretation is so different that reading the same language requires a result in Nebraska different from that of the U.S. Supreme Court’s controlling authority. The majority takes this position because it insists on complete fidelity to the “strictly construe waiver” but “broadly construe exceptions” language. But this approach overlooks Nebraska’s jurisprudential experience with the “strict-broad” language. For example, as recently as in 2017, we considered another portion of the intentional tort exception provision, misrepresentation, and said: “We must strictly construe the misrepresentation exception to the waiver of sovereign immunity in favor of the State . . . .” Jill B. & Travis B. v. State, 297 Neb. 57, 95, 899 N.W.2d 241, 266 (2017) (emphasis supplied). This verbage simply illustrates why we should thoughtfully examine the language and provisions of the State Tort Claims Act for their coherent meaning rather than decide meaning based on imposition of a “strict-broad” label devoid of analysis. “Our object should be to read the Act so as to make it ‘consistent and equitable’, Feres, 340 U.S. at page 139, 71 S.Ct. at page - 37 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 307 Nebraska Reports MOSER v. STATE Cite as 307 Neb. 18 156, in which we should be untrammeled by any rule of ‘strict’ or ‘liberal’ construction.” Panella v. United States, 216 F.2d 622, 624 (2d Cir. 1954). STATE TORT CLAIMS ACT IS PATTERNED AFTER THE FTCA SO WE LOOK TO U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISIONS UNDER THE FTCA We have long recognized that Nebraska’s State Tort Claims Act is patterned after the FTCA. See Johnson v. State, 270 Neb. 316, 700 N.W.2d 620 (2005). And the FTCA was the culmination of a long effort to eliminate thousands of private claims bills at every session of Congress and thus mitigate the consequences of sovereign immunity from suit. United States v. Muniz, 374 U.S. 150, 83 S. Ct. 1850, 10 L. Ed. 2d 805 (1963); Feres v. United States, 340 U.S. 135, 71 S. Ct. 153, 95 L. Ed. 152 (1950). Where the U.S. Supreme Court cases have been clear, we have looked to U.S. Supreme Court precedent and legislative history of the FTCA to inform our reading of Nebraska statutes patterned after federal legislation. In Jill B. & Travis B., supra, where we were considering the “misrepresentation” exception in § 81-8,219(4), we first looked to the U.S. Supreme Court decisions for guidance. But where the U.S. Supreme Court does not directly provide the answer, we then consider other federal authority. See Haffke v. Signal 88, ante p. 625, 947 N.W.2d 103 (2020) (explaining that it is appropriate to look to federal court decisions construing similar and parent legislation). Fortunately in this case, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Sheridan v. United States, 487 U.S. 392, 108 S. Ct. 2449, 101 L. Ed. 2d 352 (1988), supplies guidance and resolution.