Principe Compania Naviera, SA v. Board of Com'rs of Port of New Orleans

HEEBE, District Judge:

To sue and not to be sued — that, insists the Board of Commissioners is the answer. The question in this admiralty case is whether the Board of Commissioners can avoid liability for a maritime tort it is alleged to have committed by pleading sovereign immunity. This question has troubled both the state and federal courts in Louisiana since the Dock Board was created 1 and has led to a maze of occasionally puzzling decisions, the general tenor of which is that the Board may be sued in contract 2 but not in tort. 3 We, on the other hand, hold that the Board is not entitled…