Court Opinion

ID: 9616517
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:47:29.005389+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:57:34.007801
License: Public Domain

Harman, J.,
dissenting.
As did the knights of yore, my Brothers of the majority sally forth across the drawbridge and on to the legislative plain, to strike another, yet nonfatal, blow at that terrible dragon, the common law doctrine of interspousal immunity.
The extremely limited scope of the exception which they create here makes it apparent that even they recognize that the reasons underpinning the doctrine are still valid and viable. This change, therefore, should come from the General Assembly and not from this court. I respectfully dissent for the reasons set forth in the dissenting opinions in Surratt, Adm'r. v. Thompson, 212 Va. 191, 183 S.E.2d 200 (1971).