Caps & Immunities
ordinary Maryland citizens are even aware of the scope and effect of the Maryland Good Samaritan immunity statute. It is incumbent upon the proponents of legislation that would extend Good Samaritan immunity to demonstrate that a significant proportion of the public would change their behavior, if only there was immunity for such behavior. Tis is true because, the moment an immunity statute
immunizes particular conduct, individuals acquire a State- sanctioned license to behave in a manner that is neither reasonably prudent nor careful.
Interpreting one such
immunity statute, for example, the Court of Special Appeals has held that ambulance personnel enjoy immunity from liability for conduct “giving assistance . . . in an emergency” in the absence of evidence that they acted deliberately and with a “wanton and reckless disregard for human life or for the rights of others.”16 It is respectfully suggested that the Legislature never
should have enacted an immunity statute that encourages individuals simply to avoid deliberately treating other people with a wanton and reckless disregard for human life.
16 McCoy v. Hatmaker, 135 Md. App. 693, 763 A.2d 1233 (2000). Te court in McCoy noted specifically that “careless, inconsiderate and deceitful ambulance crewmen” also would be entitled to immunity under the same statute.
Biography George S. Tolley III, Dugan, Babij & Tolley, LLC,
is Vice President of the Maryland Association for Justice. After receiving his J.D. from New York University School of Law, he served for two years as law clerk to the Hon. Herbert F. Murray of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Mr. Tolley is a member of the Bar in Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina and the District of Columbia, and litigates medical malpractice, wrongful death, and catastrophic personal injury matters. He is a member of the American Association for Justice, and supports the MAJ President's Club as an Eagle.
Unfortunately, most of the immunity statutes in Maryland that extend Good Samaritan immunity are worded in the same way as the immunity statute for ambulance personnel. Plainly stated, immunity statutes exist solely to deprive
injured people of their right to fair and just compensation under the law, when they otherwise would be entitled to petition the courts for redress of their grievances. For the sake of everyone’s rights in the future, our Legislature must resist the temptation to enact such laws.
Trial Reporter / Spring 2011 19
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