Court Opinion

ID: 9751941
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 17:19:50.58387+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:51:20.889825
License: Public Domain

WATHEN, C.J.,
dissenting.
[¶ 11] I must respectfully dissent. In my judgment, the Court incorrectly focuses on a single act, ignoring the function in which the police officer was engaged and the precise nature of the tortious act alleged. I agree that immunity is not intended to apply to purely ministerial acts that are independent of any discretionary function or duty. Immunity, however, does apply to ministerial acts that are ancillary or incidental to the performance of such a discretionary function or duty. The discretionary immunity doctrine affords government officials with immunity for exercises of judgment that would be inhibited by the threat of civil liability. The Legislature has recognized that law enforcement officers must often take actions having serious consequences on the persons affected and that the threat of liability might cause the officers to refrain from taking the necessary actions to the detriment of the public. See L.D. 2443, Statement of Fact (113th Legis.1987).
[¶ 12] As the present case illustrates, discretionary functions involving the exercise of judgment often include ancillary ministerial acts. Moreover, in assessing immunity under the MTCA, the discretionary versus ministerial distinction must be evaluated in light of the tortious act. In the present case, the act that might subject the police officer to liability was the publication, rather than the preparation, of the list of names. It was only when the mistaken list was published to a third party that an action for defamation would he. See Baked v. Weave, 583 A.2d 1028, 1029 (Me.1990). The relevant act under the MTCA is therefore not the preparation of the list, since that act is only ancillary to the discretionary action of publication.
[¶ 13] The Court’s failure to focus on the precise act that creates liability muddies the distinction between discretionary and ministerial acts and undermines the purpose of section 8111(1). For example, a police officer performing a background check, during a stop, on a person possessing a firearm might enter the wrong spelling of the person’s name and obtain incorrect information that the person is a felon. This incorrect information could result in an erroneous arrest. If we assume that the function of arresting felons with firearms serves the public interest, in the absence of bad faith the officer should not be held personally liable for the general discretionary act of arresting the person even if he commits a ministerial error during the investigation process.
[¶ 14] Similarly, in this case, the police department’s pursuit of those with outstanding arrest warrants serves the public interest and involves the exercise of discretion. Separating the officer’s decision to publish the names of persons with outstanding arrest warrants from the clerical error of misstating the charge, will necessarily inhibit the officer’s performance of the discretionary function of aggressively pursuing persons with outstanding arrest warrants. Focusing upon the tortious act, i.e., the arrest in the example or the publication of names in this case, achieves the balance between immunity and liability struck by the MTCA. I would affirm the court’s conclusion that the officer was immune from liability on the basis of section 8111(1).