Comments on: Case links for July 22, 2005 http://www.kemplog.com/2005/07/22/case-links-for-july-22-2005/ Life and law in Eastern Indiana Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:48:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Doug http://www.kemplog.com/2005/07/22/case-links-for-july-22-2005/#comment-108 Doug Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 +0000 #comment-108 I think the City of Muncie case reached the right result, but I think the Court was obligated to answer the immunity question before it reached the duty consideration. I'm pretty sure caselaw suggests that an immunity defense is a preliminary issue -- sort of like a jurisdictional defense. If someone got sued in the wrong court, it wouldn't be appropriate for the court to decide the case on the basis of duty without first concluding that it had jurisdiction. It's been a couple of years since it came up for me: http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/archive/11070201.jgb.html (In that case, the Court of Appeals didn't bring up the issue of which issue to address first, but I seem to remember arguing about priority in my brief.) I think the City of Muncie case reached the right result, but I think the Court was obligated to answer the immunity question before it reached the duty consideration.

I’m pretty sure caselaw suggests that an immunity defense is a preliminary issue — sort of like a jurisdictional defense. If someone got sued in the wrong court, it wouldn’t be appropriate for the court to decide the case on the basis of duty without first concluding that it had jurisdiction.

It’s been a couple of years since it came up for me: http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/archive/11070201.jgb.html

(In that case, the Court of Appeals didn’t bring up the issue of which issue to address first, but I seem to remember arguing about priority in my brief.)

]]>