Austin v. Mayor of Baltimore

A five year old child drowned due to the admitted negligence of agents of the City of Baltimore and the majority holds today that the mother may not recover because the City is immune from liability and may not be held accountable for the tortious conduct of its employees. If a private party had been the wrongdoer, the mother could have recovered. The majority ignores this distinction and continues to perpetuate the gross inequity inherent in the doctrine of governmental immunity, that liability may turn merely on the identity of the wrongdoer. I find this concept wholly unacceptable as being…