Court Opinion

ID: 9710454
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:10:15.597758+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:57.044913
License: Public Domain

SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, J.
(dissenting). The court’s holding bars a citizen of Milwaukee who alleges he was beaten by police officers from seeking a federal remedy (sec. 1983) in state court because he did not file written notice of the circumstances of his claim. This court maintains this position even though the city concedes it was actually notified (but not in compliance with the statute), and the circuit court made no finding with regard to whether the city suffered any prejudice as a result of the plaintiffs failure to file the notice.
I cannot join the majority in concluding that the notice of claims provision (sec. 893.80), enacted in response to the abrogation of sovereign immunity, was intended to or should somehow override a federally created remedy designed to vindicate civil rights.
I conclude that sec. 893.80 is inapplicable to this lawsuit for two reasons: the intent of Congress and the intent of the Wisconsin legislature. Neither Congress nor the Wisconsin legislature intended the Wisconsin notice of claims statute to apply to a 1983 action in state courts.
The United States Supreme Court has apparently concluded that Congress intended sec. 1983 actions to be viewed as analogous to claims for personal injuries sounding in tort, not as analogous to state remedies for wrongs committed by public officials. Wilson v. Garcia, — U.S. —, 105 S. Ct. 1938, 1949 (1985). If this court were to treat this case like a personal injury *632claim sounding in tort, as Congress apparently intended, and not like a remedy for wrongs committed by a governmental officer, sec. 893.80 would not be applicable. Our court has concluded that state courts dealing with sec. 1983 claims should implement only state laws which are "not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States.” Thompson v. Village of Hales Corners, 115 Wis. 2d 289, 340 N.W.2d 704 (1983). I conclude that the majority’s applying the notice of claims statute (sec. 893.80) is inconsistent with the laws of the United States.
Furthermore I believe that the Wisconsin legislature did not intend sec. 893.80 to apply to federal causes of action against governmental officers. The Wisconsin legislature adopted sec. 893.80, Stats. 1985-86, in response to Holytz v. Milwaukee, 17 Wis. 2d 26, 115 N.W.2d 618 (1962), which abrogated the principle of governmental immunity from tort liability. The state judicial doctrine of governmental immunity is not generally a significant concept in sec. 1983 litigation. Brown v. United States, 742 F.2d 1498, 1507-10 (D.C. Cir. 1984). While I recognize that sec. 893.80 is no longer limited to tort claims, I do not believe that the legislature intended sec. 893.80 to be applicable to this federal cause of action.
For the reasons set forth, I dissent. I am authorized to state that CHIEF JUSTICE NATHAN S. HEFFERNAN joins in this dissent.