Opinion ID: 848788
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Brown decision

Text: In Brown v. Genesee County Bd. of Comm'rs ( After Remand ), [1] the Court devoted a few paragraphs to discussing whether a jail is open for use by members of the public under § 6: Plaintiff claims to have injured himself near a shower stall in defendant's jail. Under Kerbersky, we examine the public's access to the jail rather than the shower area. [ Kerbersky v. Northern Michigan Univ., 458 Mich. 525, 582 N.W.2d 828 (1998).] Green v. Dep't of Corrections, 386 Mich. 459, 192 N.W.2d 491 (1971), held that a jail falls within the scope of the statutory exception. In other decisions, this Court has implicitly assumed as much. See, e.g., Wade v. Dep't of Corrections, 439 Mich. 158, 483 N.W.2d 26 (1992). We would reaffirm that a jail is open for use by members of the public. Family, friends, and attorneys may generally visit inmates. Members of the public may also enter a jail for other reasons, e.g., to apply for a job or make a delivery. The fact that public access to a jail is limited does not alter our conclusion. Schools fall within the exception even though members of the public may not enter whenever and wherever they please. See Sewell v. Southfield Public Schools, 456 Mich. 670, 576 N.W.2d 153 (1998); Bush v. Oscoda Area Schools, 405 Mich. 716, 275 N.W.2d 268 (1979). The public building exception applies to buildings with limited access, including schools and prisons. Kerbersky, supra at 534, 582 N.W.2d 828; Steele v. Dep't of Corrections, 215 Mich.App. 710, 715, 546 N.W.2d 725 (1996). [Emphasis in original.] Analyzing this discussion, one finds that there are two discernible approaches to concluding why a jail is open for use by members of the public. First, the Court could be following the analysis suggested in Green. However, the opinion tells us that it does not approve the reasoning in that decision. Brown, supra at 436 n. 4, 628 N.W.2d 471. Next, the second paragraph states that a jail might be open for use by members of the public because [f]amily, friends, and attorneys may generally visit inmates. Members of the public may also enter a jail for other reasons, e.g., to apply for a job or make a delivery. The third paragraph tells the reader that limited access to a building like a jail does not preclude its being open for use by members of the public. Therefore, the reader is given two possible reasons that a jail is open for use by members of the public, then told not to rely on the first one. The logical conclusion is that the second reason given is the reason the jail is open. Notably absent from Brown is any description of the jail in question. Does it have an open lobby that one can enter freely? Is there a checkpoint outside? Is there a guarded gate? How is it like other jails? The answers to these questions are left to the imagination. The reader is given the impression that all jails are open for use by members of the public, regardless of their structure or how they limit access.