Gardner v. State

WILNER, Judge.

This case involves a construction of the State Tort Claims Act, now codified in Md.State Gov’t Code Ann., §§ 12-101— 12-109.

Until 1981, the State jealously guarded its sovereign immunity against liability for tort. The Court of Appeals had repeatedly held that the State could not be sued for the tortious conduct of its agencies, instrumentalities, officials, or employees unless the Legislature (1) authorized such a suit and (2) provided the funds or enabled the agency sued to obtain the funds necessary to satisfy any resulting judgment. See, for example, University of Maryland…