Cracraft v. City of St. Louis Park

In its decision affirming the trial court, the majority purports to be doing no more than applying well-established rules of negligence law to the facts of the instant case. I respectfully disagree. A close analysis of the opinion in conjunction with a review of the applicable legal principles reveals that the majority’s opinion would salvage the last vestiges of sovereign immunity under the theory of a strict duty analysis.

The determination of whether and under what standard a city should be held liable for negligent inspection of premises under a municipal fire ordinance is a difficult…