Governmental or Sovereign Immunity is a legal concept in the United States that protects government entities from most types of lawsuits that an injured disc golfer might bring. The way Governmental Immunity operates depends on many factors and is often applied differently in different states. We discussed two cases from recent disc golf litigation history that illustrate how Governmental Immunity works and the legal theories behind it.
If you enjoy our videos, please consider subscribing to our channel. Thank You!
FIND US ONLINE
Website: https://discgolf.law/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/discgolfdotlaw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/discgolfdotlaw/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/discgolfdotlaw
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@discgolf.law
Email: info@discgolf.law
CHAPTERS
0:00 Governmental Immunity
1:09 California $3M Settlement
4:39 Texas Recreation Statute
6:05 Governmental vs Proprietary
6:57 The Governmental Immunity Debate
7:45 Think Twice Before You Sue
8:58 What Do You Think?
CREDITS
@GatekeeperMedia
@DiscGolfProTour
@TAPPChannel
@townofhuntersvillenc28078
@WCNC
@meckgov
@rafalcwiok
@ParksandRecreation
@CharlotteWater
@cityofcharlottesolidwastes1230
@mecksheriff
@aaanews
@lederernojima
@Southbaydigs
@skorpio88
@njager13
@chittoteto8699
@jameslin777
@cityofmb
@theacetravel
@ATXNTV
@JomezPro
@SupremeCourtofTexas
@DeceleratedTravel
@tkobollards7376
@DroneStarState
@KVUETV
@portcityheights
@alleghenycounty
@hillsdalecollege
@JoeBiden
@usgao
@CBSNewYork
@SmallBoreOutlaw
Chris Clark | PDGA 16694
Matthew Clark | PDGA 143565
Atlantis by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Finding the Balance by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
DISC GOLF DOT LAW
At DiscGolf.Law, our team understands disc golf culture. We’re fans and players. We also have over 20 years of experience negotiating and closing business transactions, protecting our clients’ valuable intellectual property, and increasing the value of our clients’ businesses. We help our clients navigate the unfamiliar, intimidating, and sometimes dangerous territories of contract negotiation, brand protection and enforcement, deal structure, and even partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions.
We offer a complimentary 30-minute consultation for anyone with a PDGA number, so there will be no cost to find out whether our team is a good fit to guide you to the next step in your growth journey.
DISCLAIMER
The information presented in this video is solely for informational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney. No information provided here should be interpreted as establishing an attorney-client relationship. All non-licensed clips used for fair use commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
hey everybody it’s Chris Clark with dis golf. law I’ve got a question for you would you rather be injured on a public disc golf course or a private disc golf course well the city or town or county that owns and manages your local public disc golf course likely has immunity from lawsuits that a disc golfer might bring governmental immunity is a concept in the United States states where government entities can avoid liability from certain types of lawsuits for instance local municipalities and City governments generally enjoy some sort of immunity in tort lawsuits legally speaking a tort is simply an act or Omission that causes legal harm to a person or property negligence is the most common basis for Tor lawsuits the failure to use a level of care that a reasonable person would have exercised under the same circumstances I’m going to give you two quick examples from recent disc golf history where the issue of governmental immunity played a role in 2004 the disc golf club at Mira Costa High School asked the city of Manhattan Beach and Inova discs to install a golf course at the nearby poly log Park Inova consulted with the city and sold them the disc golf baskets to be used in the park the nine-hole course was installed in July of 2005 polywog Park is the largest public park in the South Bay Area it was a popular location for hosting large community events such as music festivals and sports nearly every online review that we could find of the polywog disc golf course mentioned how crowded it was and the difficulty of navigating pedestrians during their rounds in August of 2012 MiraCosta high school was hosting their annual CrossCountry watermelon run at poliwog Park one of the students parents Norine Goodbody was standing under a tree watching her daughter warm up when she was struck in the left eye by a disc off disc Goodbody was rushed to the hospital but after undergoing multi mble surgeries she ultimately lost all Vision in that eye in the process she racked up more than $200,000 in medical bills and was unable to work for 4 months so in July of 2013 Goodbody sued the city of Manhattan Beach and Innova Champion discs alleging that the defendants were negligent in the design and installation of the disc golf course the disc golf player who threw the flying disc that struck goodbody’s eye was not sued a quick aside why are some parties sued and not others who seemingly may be equally if not more liable why not Sue the person that actually threw the disc the answer is almost always the same named defendants in lawsuits typically have money most municipalities and corporations have a lot more money and a lot better Insurance than your average disc golfer it’s mostly a waste of time to sue a person or an entity and win if they don’t have sufficient assets from which you can recover your judgment amount so anyway subsequent to this lawsuit City officials enacted a more restrictive disc golf policy they would cover the baskets with a vinyl lid during any other special events or when the park was at capacity But ultimately in 2014 the decision was made to close the park indefinitely good B’s lawyers in her lawsuit their main argument was the course should not have been installed in a busy crowded mixed use Park in October of 2015 the city of Manhattan Beach ended up settling with Goodbody for $3 million the majority of the settlement was paid by the city’s riskmanagement Group Policy which it shared with other Southern California cities now there are reasons why by municipalities who often have immunity from tort lawsuits still carry liability insurance we’ll save those for another day our second example comes from Texas if a municipality gives permission to enter its premises for recreation the municipality does not assure that the premises are safe for that purpose or assume responsibility for any injury caused by any Act of the person to whom that permission is granted interestingly this golf is specifically defined in the statute as a form of recreation the purpose of this statute is clearly to Shield governmental entities from liability for recreational activities on September 18th in 2015 the Texas Supreme Court ruled the city of of dbow Texas could not claim governmental immunity after a grandmother tripped and fell over a hollow pipe protruding from a sidewalk while she was leaving her granddaughter’s soccer game at a city-owned park because the grandmother was not using the park for her own recreational purposes her case did not fall within one of the recreation exceptions under Texas law and the City of D was held liable many states draw a distinction between whether the government is doing something governmental versus proprietary governmental functions these are generally political or legislative or public in nature and performed for the public good whereas proprietary functions are activities that are commercial or chiefly for the private advantage of the community we were able to find at least one case where a court specifically held that a city’s maintenance of a golf course was a proprietary function meaning the municipality was not entitled to governmental immunity the way that it would have been had it been performing a governmental function now critics of governmental immunity say no Government Federal state or local should be accorded immunity in any Court governmental immunity is not a doctrine that is based in the United States Constitution and some even argue it is inconsistent with the constitution proponents of governmental immunity believe that eliminating governmental immunity would result in far less government accountability and higher taxes due to higher Insurance costs plaintiffs with legitimate claims against municipalities would have to face off against insurance company lawyers who are motivated by profit not by Justice or fairness I usually avoid sharing my personal viewpoints or advice when creating this type of content but allow me to make a quick exception playing dis golf involves some inherent risk of injury if a course owner or a course designer or a tournament official or another player causes you a serious injury and it is clearly their fault yes you deserve a remedy but on the other hand if you fall while playing disc golf or you get hit by a disc I urge you not to immediately start compiling a list of names in your head of people you can sue lawsuits are expensive unpleasant headaches and our courts are already jammed full of frivolous claims I came across the following quote from a 1999 Journal article that I think aligns with my philosophy on this subject producing a risk-free golf course environment is almost impossible but controlling risks is not only possible it must be a full-time concern of everyone on the golf course including the golfers themselves so I’m curious to hear whether you agree with me about that or not should the government enjoy immunity from lawsuits under certain situations or not please leave us a comment let us know what you think and if you haven’t already please subscribe to our Channel and like this video and as always thanks so much for watching [Music] oh [Music]
30 Comments
I really do enjoy watching these informative videos
I think in certain situations yes there should be immunity
wow, this is a tough one. I feel like the woman should get something. She wasn't there for disc golf and may have had no clue it was a risk. It was no fault of her own. I've seen players throw near people and never yell four. Thankfully, they weren't hit. i was hit by one and no one yelled four. Thankfully I just got a bruise on my shin. We do have signs that read, if you hit a car you are responsible. I don't know if that comes into play here.
Disc golf courses should never be in busy parks where there is no room to freely play the holes period. I believe the city should be sued and was negligent in the design and installation of the course, putting peoples health and lives at risk.
Do you think course designers should carry liability insurance? Or is it more likely they will be sued if they have insurance?
If there are signs up clearly stating "danger, flying discs" then its on the lady. Otherwise its on the city. Only problem with that is you can say goodbye to city disc golf courses if there's a chance of litigation. The city should have shut down the course during the special event.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:11 🛡️ Public disc golf courses owned by city or county likely have immunity from lawsuits due to governmental immunity.
00:40 🧑⚖️ Tort lawsuits often involve negligence, where a failure to exercise reasonable care results in legal harm to a person or property.
01:21 🥏 A disc golf course was installed at Poliwog Park in 2005, becoming a popular yet crowded venue for community events.
02:20 🚑 Norine Goodbody lost vision in one eye after being struck by a disc golf disc at Poliwog Park, leading to a lawsuit against the city and disc manufacturers.
03:39 🏞️ Following the lawsuit, city officials enacted more restrictive policies for disc golf at Poliwog Park, which was eventually closed indefinitely.
04:20 💵 The city settled with Goodbody for $3 million, highlighting that even with immunity, municipalities carry liability insurance.
04:56 📜 Texas law specifically exempts municipalities from liability for recreational activities, underlining governmental protection in these settings.
05:37 ⚖️ In 2015, a Texas court ruled against governmental immunity when a grandmother was injured in a non-recreational manner at a city park.
06:40 🌳 Maintenance of a golf course by a city was deemed a proprietary function, meaning no immunity was granted, showcasing the complexity of governmental immunity.
07:10 🗣️ Debates around governmental immunity vary, with some arguing it is inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution and others believing it prevents excessive lawsuits and maintains manageable government costs.
–
Made with HARPA AI
More than half the public courses I have played had other park users interacting with the course design in some fashion. In fact, I'd say it is probably closer to 4 in 5 public courses have other park users that can potentially be struck at some point if the player is not exercising caution when they throw. Either we learn to exist together or we start losing courses when governments rip them out.
that pollywog park course was such a terrible idea, how did so many people pass that along the line without never stopping to ask if it was even a good idea
I think you should always be able to sue due to negligence. However, assumed risk is something else. I've been playing disc golf for 20 years. I have seen some courses in public parks that were really risky. I don't believe for a second that these government agencies should not be held accountable.
I can't make a comment anymore appropriate than that of Dee Houck:
Lately, I’m seeing more courses shutting down for safety issues. Have you noticed this too? It’s not always public info.
Which is better for disc golf? I’m my opinion, the best solution is obviously to have a course with greater safety and follow design guidelines and consult an experienced designer.
But seriously which is better for the industry?
1. Courses shutting down for safety issues or
2. never designing and installing that course in the first place?
YES?! Don’t do it! Don’t design if you don’t know how to design or haven’t learned about how to design with greater safety. It’s not as easy as it looks but it is a lot of common sense and there are simple rules you can apply by knowing what NOT to do.
Don’t design and install courses with easy to identify safety issues. Read more on the 3DISCgolf – safer, smarter, and more sustainable page. We are providing a platform for elevating course designs for all who want to learn and share their own knowledge too while learning from others.
Cities and other clients don’t know design. It’s the responsibility of each disc golfer to learn what’s safer and then go design on public land or for private clients. It is the responsibility of each designer to share what they know with the client.
Its difficult. Sometimes, even we don’t get to do what’s best as the client will do what they want— even a parks and rec does what they want. But we must all try.
This industry will suffer if courses keep getting shut down. Follow the simple rules of what you MUST now do. I’ve written articles and hosted workshops. If you want more information, message me and let’s talk.
Let’s improve the courses that have walking paths and trails inside the fairways or close to fairways where discs could land— even if the usage is low— why? Usage will go up over time as population grows. As I’ve been saying for some time, “Design today for tomorrow’s needs.”
She hits it spot on here. Bad design in a bad area put people at unnecessary risk and caused one person to be blind in one eye for the rest of their life, well making a huge black stain on the sport of disc golf in the process, and resulting in a player who has to have that on their conscience.
One of my favorite disc golf channels.
the govt doesnt need immunity. they always find themselves innocent anyways
I think in very select cases, immunity is warranted. The problem is that it shouldn't only be for government, and the courts should apply it propperly. It should be for any civil matter where the principals of the law have not been established. It should not require the same facts in the case, but the same legal principals. If a police officer used telepathy to unlawfully obtain random peoples identities, it would be unconstitutional. The courts would almost certainly grant qualified immunity in this case though, because the facts are so dissimilar to any precedent. This despite it being clearly established in principal, that an officer can't force his will on you to make you ID, for no legitimate reason.
Disc golf tournaments do not belong in parks mixed in with
the boomers randomly walking through the park
every thing in life as an inherent risk, people need to less sue happy
The case with the grandmother seems interesting in that anyone could claim that they were NOT participating in recreational activity, even though recreational activity is certainly why they are there. They may not be actively participating, but if they are watching someone who is, then a lawsuit seems almost inevitable. Does this mean that anyone in the gallery at a PDGA/DGPT event could file a suit should they get hit with a disc?
Quick aside. American capitalism has become who can hire the best lawyers
If there were to be no immunity for municipalities then why in the world would they build out any kind of park or trail or anything that included any kind of risk. You should not be able to sue because jimmy fell off the monkey bars, unless they were not properly maintained. That's why park courses should be clearly marked and possibly sectioned off. The number of times some kid has come running from behind a tree from the soccer fields through the fairway or the number of early fall photo shoots in freshly cut fairways is crazy.
As someone who has designed courses on business owned properties and in a County and a City Park, the idea that someone should be able to successfully sue anyone other than the person throwing the disc is absurd.
It’s every park goer or patron’s responsibility to do their own due diligence and learn about the properties they are visiting and know their surroundings. Especially if there is a park map and disc golf course map that exists online. It’s unreasonable to have course maps on multiple kiosks at every entrance of a park and to have hundreds of “watch for flying discs” signs in the ground every 50’ along every walkway.
It’s everyone’s individual responsibility to research the premises they are visiting and figure out when they are in areas of potential danger.
Only wonton endangerment by an individual (the player) should be legally in question at all.
I have to tell hikers quite often that they are walking where we throw and it's dangerous if you get hit. Most are to stupid or stubborn to care.
Everybody just to fast to sue, need to use common sense while you walking around on disc golf course alot of people are clueless of they surroundings or just don't care about anybody else enjoying park. Like people parking on course so they don't have to walk 50 more feet to park in parking lot
Polliwog was my and my friends favorite local course, despite its issues. We missed that course for a long time, because shocker, in Los Angeles it’s a LONG fucking way to the next course…and never knew what happened for years. The next closest courses were 45min to an hour+ away, and the trend was being sold to developers who would just close the courses and build mansions on them. Shame on the city for not closing the course during the event, they did that all the time for major scheduled events like Shakespeare in the park and the like. Shame on the disc golfer who threw the disc because no doubt there was serious negligence for the safety of others demonstrated by throwing at people, both are equally stupid. You show up at that course and if it’s a packed day at the park, you either make your peace with the dog walkers, pedestrians and whatever and know you’re going to wait and be giving people a heads up…or you don’t play and go somewhere else. Yes it was a mixed use park, yes it often had people walking through lines, but if you went at a time when foot traffic was lower, it was no problem to play rounds. My friends and I usually played after work Friday nights or weekends mid day and yea there people, but no one we couldn’t wait for or give a heads up to. It was also mostly a pitch n putt 9-hole course, so there were very few shots requiring any real distance, the couple that did were nowhere near people. It was a terrible demonstration of consideration and conscientiousness of disc golfers in my opinion. The lady of course had every right to be litigious, I’m sad that’s the way it went. There was no reason to take the whole course away for one fucking idiot making one big mistake, but it always is isn’t it? One giant douche who ruins everything for everyone…
We need tort reform
We have all encountered other park goers sometime while playing disc golf im sure. The problem i have is that some people are not aware at all what disc golf is is one thing but we have very often come across others that know whats going in abd dont give a crap because its all about them being entitlied and dont care
All the parks i play the course is no where near the other activities. Only 1 place has a problem when baseball is going becauee the parents walk through holes and watch in areas where they shouldnt be located. Theres also mandos to prevent discs from entering areas where people might be.
There’s a lot of courses being installed that are poorly designed. It’s about the companies that make the baskets selling them and making money. They don’t care about the long term,
How many baskets are made in china?
Not gateway
On a side note is mvp axiom streamline discs manufactured in china?
Why don’t they say made in USA
Dave dunipace designed courses are terrible. Just saying
This is really a shitty situation. From her point of view she doesn't have 200k to pay her medical bills plus the money she lost from being out of work. And this is in no fault of her own. The guy who threw the disc is to blame but he likely doesn't have 200k+ to pay these bills either so what is she to do? The real issue is our lack of universal health care in this country. We all suffer because we don't have this coverage like other countries do