Supreme Court of Florida, 1985

Ursin v. Law Enforcement Insurance Co.

Ursin v. Law Enforcement Insurance Co.
Supreme Court of Florida · Decided May 23, 1985 · Adkins, Alderman, Boyd, Ehrlich, McDonald, Overton, Shaw
469 So. 2d 1382; 10 Fla. L. Weekly 296; 1985 Fla. LEXIS 3395 (Southern Reporter, Second Series)

Ursin v. Law Enforcement Insurance Co.

Opinion of the Court

OVERTON, Justice.

We approve the result of the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal reported as Ursin v. Law Enforcement Insurance Co., 450 So.2d 1282 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), on the authority of our decision in Reddish v. Smith, 468 So.2d 929 (Fla. 1985).

It is so ordered.

BOYD, C.J., and ADKINS, ALDERMAN and McDONALD, JJ., concur. SHAW, J., dissents with an opinion, EHRLICH, J., dissents.

Dissenting Opinion

SHAW, Justice,

dissenting.

In this case a mentally disordered sex offender serving a twenty-year sentence for rape, kidnapping and robbery with eighteen years remaining on his sentence was placed in a trustee status in the county jail and assigned to the kitchen detail. The “trustee” simply walked away, kidnapped petitioner within minutes, and sexually molested her. If holding the government enti*1383ty liable for negligence would “chill” this type of government discretion, as the majority fears, I express a strong belief that this is precisely what the people and the legislature intended when they waived sovereign immunity. I dissent for the reasons set forth in my dissents in Reddish v. Smith, 468 So.2d 929 (Fla. 1985); Everton v. Willard, 468 So.2d 939 (Fla. 1985); and Duvall v. City of Cape Coral, 468 So.2d 961 (Fla. 1985).

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