Casey v. Wake County

VAUGHN, Judge.

The sole question on appeal is whether the activities of Wake County and Wake County Health Department in prescribing and dispensing contraceptives through a family planning clinic without charge are governmental in nature and therefore immune from liability under the doctrine of sovereign immunity. We hold that such activities are not proprietary in nature and the county and its health department can assert the doctrine of sovereign immunity as a defense to actions arising out of these activities.

The doctrine of sovereign or governmental immunity, though often criticized, has…