Idellar v. Scheele v. City Anchorage

AREND, Justice. We are asked in this case to apply retrospectively the rule we laid down in City of Fairbanks v. Schaible, 1 that a municipal corporation in Alaska does not enjoy immunity from tort liability in the exercise of either proprietary or governmental functions. The plaintiff-appellant complained in the court below that on September 29, 1960, she had suffered personal injuries arising out of police brutality following her arrest. The city and two of its police officers, who had been named with it as defendants, answered denying the charge of brutality and alleging that the plaintiff's injuries were self-inflicted while she was in a state of extreme intoxication. The city subsequently moved for a summary judgment in its favor on the theory that a municipality is not liable for the acts of its employees while engaged in a governmental function.