Opinion
Argued May 25, 1978.
Decided July 14, 1978.
Appeal from the Commonwealth Court, No. 10 T.D. 1977, 377 A.2d 1068.
P. Nelson Alexander, York, for appellants.
David Max Baer, Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellees Com., Dept. of State Police and Dept. of General Services.
Clyde W. McIntyre, Harrisburg, for appellees James A. Barger and Ronald G. Lench.
Before EAGEN, C. J., and O'BRIEN, ROBERTS, POMEROY, NIX, MANDERINO and LARSEN, JJ.
OPINION OF THE COURT
Appellants Pamela Porr and Tamra Porr, by their parents, brought an action in trespass against the Department of State Police and the Department of General Services, two agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and appellees here, and one official of each agency. The complaint asked for damages to compensate plaintiffs for injuries allegedly incurred when a state police vehicle struck the car in which appellants were riding. The Commonwealth Court dismissed the complaint against appellees on the grounds that, as agencies of the Commonwealth, appellees were protected by the sovereign immunity of the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth Court also dismissed the complaint against the individual defendants. Appellants do not challenge that dismissal.
We have this day abrogated the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Mayle v. Pennsylvania Department of Highways, 479 Pa. 384, 388 A.2d 709 (1978). We therefore reverse the order of the Commonwealth Court and remand for further proceedings.
We hear this case pursuant to the Appellate Court Jurisdiction Act of 1970, Act of July 31, 1970, P.L. 673, art. II, § 203, 17 Pa.C.S.A. § 211.203 (Supp. 1978).
Order reversed and case remanded.
O'BRIEN, J., filed a dissenting opinion in which EAGEN, C. J., and POMEROY, J., joined.
POMEROY, J., filed a dissenting opinion in which EAGEN, C. J., and O'BRIEN, J., joined.
I dissent. This Court has no power to abrogate Article I, § 11 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. See Mayle v. Pennsylvania Department of Highways, 479 Pa. 384, 388 A.2d 709 (1978) (Dissenting Opinion by O'Brien, J.).
EAGEN, C. J., and POMEROY, J., join in this dissenting opinion.
For the reasons set forth in my dissenting opinion in Mayle v. Pennsylvania Department of Highways, 479 Pa. 384, 408, 388 A.2d 709, 721 (1978), I dissent.
EAGEN, C. J., and O'BRIEN, J., join in this dissenting opinion.