Hicks v. State
Supreme Court of New Mexico
554 P.2d 1153 (1975)
Relevant factsFree
Ron Hicks (plaintiff) lost his wife and daughter when a cattle truck collided with a school bus on a narrow bridge built and maintained by the New Mexico State Highway Department (defendant); Hicks sued for negligence, and the highway department moved to dismiss on sovereign immunity grounds, which the district court granted, reasoning only the legislature could abolish such a long-established common-law doctrine. Hicks appealed to the New Mexico Supreme Court.
IssueFree
Whether the common-law doctrine of sovereign immunity may be changed or abolished by a court, as opposed to only by legislative action.