Court Opinion

ID: 9766930
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:03:36.093283+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:27.308893
License: Public Domain

ELDRIDGE, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I agree with the Court’s judgment insofar as it orders that there be a trial on the merits. Nevertheless, I continue to adhere to the views expressed in Judge Cole’s dissenting opinion in Austin v. City of Baltimore, 286 Md. 51, 78, 405 A.2d 255, 269 (1979), and in my concurring and dissenting *555opinion in the Austin case, 286 Md. at 67, 405 A.2d at 263, that the governmental-proprietary distinction is an irrational basis for determining whether local governments may be held liable in tort. The governmental-proprietary distinction, which has never been expressly sanctioned by the Maryland Legislature, was adopted by this Court relatively recently in history and with little reasoning. The distinction has proven to be unsound, and it should be abandoned.
COLE and DAVIDSON, JJ., authorize me to state that they concur with the views expressed herein.