Issues of governmental immunity and public official immunity arise relatively often in North Carolina appellate opinions. Within this important area of the law, however, there remain challenging questions. Among them is this: Does public official immunity ever shield North Carolina public officials from personal liability for intentional torts, such as assault, battery, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution? School of Government faculty member Trey Allen recently took on this question. His new Local Government Law Bulletin, Do Intentional Tort Claims Always Defeat Public Official Immunity?, includes an in-depth examination of existing case law with a discussion of malice in the context of intent, and closes with a proposed framework for analysis of future cases. If, like me, you could simply use a primer on public official immunity, the bulletin starts with that. And at the end there’s a handy list of which public official positions are eligible for immunity and which are not. (Examples: Superintendent of County Schools – yes. School bus driver – no). Check out the bulletin (it’s free!) here.
