Austin v. Mayor of Baltimore

Eldridge, J., *53filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which Smith, J., concurs with Part I, at page 67 infra. Cole, J., filed a dissenting opinion at page 78 infra.

“The doctrine of sovereign immunity from suit, rooted in the ancient common law, is firmly embedded in the law of Maryland.” 1 Katz v. Wash. Suburban Sanitary Com’n, 284 Md. 503, 507, 397 A.2d 1027 [, 1030] (1979). The doctrine today is, perhaps, more accurately characterized as “governmental immunity,” for, by judicial decision, it is not only applicable to the State itself, but also applies generally to a…