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Monahan v. State of Illinois

9 Ill. Ct. Cl. 646 Illinois Court of Claims Filed August 19, 1937 No. 3055
Disposition: (No. 3055- Claim denied.) Agency: Illinois State Penitentiary at Joliet
Cite as: Monahan v. State of Illinois, 9 Ill. Ct. Cl. 646 (1937)

PERCY MONAHAN, Claimant, v. STATE OF ILLINOIS, Respondent.

Case summary

Claimant, an inmate, alleged he was shot by a guard's negligent handling of a gun. The court denied the claim, holding that the doctrine of respondeat superior does not apply to the State in operating its penal institutions.

Claim type: Personal Injury Negligence

AI-generated summary from the opinion text — may contain errors. The opinion text and PDF above are the official record.

Headnotes

  1. SYLLABUS.-Employees of State Penal Institution-State not liable where inmate injured as result of. The State is not liable to respond in damages for personal injuries sustained by inmate of penal institution as the result of the negligence of employees of such institution, as in the conduct of its penal institutions it exercises a governmental function and is not liable for the negligence of its servants or agents, the doctrine of respondeat superior not being applicable to the State in the exercise of its governmental functions.

LEOPOLD SALTIEL, for claimant. OTTO KERNER, Attorney General; MURRAY F. MILNE, Assistant Attorney General, for respondent.

Mr. CHIEF JUSTICE HOLLERICH delivered the opinion of the court:

Claimant filed his complaint herein on February 18th, 1937, and alleges therein in substance that on March 23d, 1936 he was an inmate of the Illinois State Penitentiary at Joliet; that he was a member of the prison band, and on the last mentioned date was assembled with said band in the dining room of the penitentiary; that he was then and there in the exercise of all due care and caution for his own safety; that one of the guards stationed in said dining room carelessly, negligently and improperly handled a certain gun, whereby the same was discharged and the bullet therefrom struck the claimant in the leg, and as the result thereof he sustained serious and permanent injuries, for which he asks compensation.

The Attorney General has filed a motion to dismiss the claim on the ground that the doctrine of respondeat superior does not apply to the State in the operation of its penal institutions, and that therefore there is no liability on the part of the State for the injuries sustained by the claimant.

This court has repeatedly held that in the management and operation of its charitable and penal institutions, the

Official volume 9 (Containing cases in which opinions were filed between July 1, 1935–June 30, 1937, and advisory Opinions furnished Illinois Emergency Relief Commission)  ·  All opinions in this volume  ·  Also on CourtListener

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