Proffitt v. State, No. 23044
| Docket Nº | No. 23044 |
| Citation | 482 P.2d 965, 174 Colo. 113 |
| Case Date | March 22, 1971 |
| Court | Supreme Court of Colorado |
Page 965
v.
STATE of Colorado, Defendant in Error.
[174 Colo. 114] Gertrude A. Score, Hyman A. Goodstein, Denver, for plaintiff in error.
Duke W. Dunbar, Atty. Gen., John P. Moore, Deputy Atty. Gen., Robert C. Miller, George E. DeRoos, Asst. Attys. Gen., Denver, for defendant in error.
GROVES, Justice.
The plaintiff in error (plaintiff) brought an action against the State of Colorado and a number of officers and employees of the State to recover for the alleged wrongful death of her son, who was stabbed while an inmate in the State Reformatory. The State moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground of sovereign immunity. The court sustained the motion.
We make no expression concerning the merits of this action and confine ourselves solely to the matter of sovereign immunity
Page 966
of the State of Colorado. For the reasons expressed in Evans v. Board of County Commissioners, Colo., 482 P.2d 968, announced contemporaneously with this opinion, we hold that the court-made doctrine of sovereign immunity of the State of Colorado is overruled. As to the parties to this proceeding and the two contemporaneous proceedings (Evans, supra, and Flournoy v. School District Number One, Colo., 482 P.2d 966), this decision is effective immediately. As to all other causes of action the ruling shall be prospective only and shall be effective only as to causes of action arising after June 30, 1972.The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded with instructions to deny the motion to dismiss and reinstate the complaint as against the State of Colorado.
DAY and KELLEY, JJ., dissent for the reasons expressed in their dissents filed in Evans v. Board of County Commissioners, Supra.
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State By and Through Colorado State Claims Bd. of Div. of Risk Management v. DeFoor
...in Evans along with our decisions in Flournoy v. School District Number One, 174 Colo. 110, 482 P.2d 966 (1971), and Proffitt v. State, 174 Colo. 113, 482 P.2d 965 (1971). These cases have been superseded by statute as stated in State v. Hartsough, 790 P.2d 836 10 The committee recommended ......
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Marrapese v. State of RI, Civ. A. No. 80-0167.
...1971 cases, the Colorado Supreme Court abolished sovereign and governmental immunities, effective July 1, 1972. See Proffitt v. State, 174 Colo. 113, 482 P.2d 965 (1971); Evans v. Board of County Commissioners, 174 Colo. 97, 482 P.2d 968 (1971). The legislature promptly reinstated much of t......
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Evans v. Board of County Com'rs of El Paso County, No. C--10
...District No. 1 of Denver, Colo., 482 P.2d 966), and sovereign immunity of the State of Colorado (Proffitt v. State of Colorado, Colo., 482 P.2d 965). We use this opinion as the vehicle to express our views not only with respect to the instant matter but also as to the other two The majority......
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Shootman v. Department of Transp., No. 95SC84
...same day as Evans, and relying upon it, we held that sovereign or governmental immunity does not apply to the State, Proffitt v. State, 174 Colo. 113, 114, 482 P.2d 965, 965-66 (1971) (wrongful death action), or to a school district, Flournoy v. School Dist. 1, 174 Colo. 110, 111-12, 482 P.......