Note:
Barry Abrams, The Scope of Liability Under Section 3 of the Texas Tort Claims Act, 55 TEXAS L. REV. 719 (1976).
 

Abstract:
Passage of the Texas Tort Claims Act in 1969 modified, but did not abolish the doctrine of governmental immunity in Texas. The Act waives immunity from suit only to the extent of liability created by section 3, which differentiates between immune governmental activities and those subject to liability. Mr. Abrams examines two of the possible competing interpretations of the Act: (1) the narrow reading that suggests that the plaintiff must allege a condition or use of property as the instrumentality of the injury and (2) the broader reading that suggests that a plaintiff need only allege negligent government conduct arising from a condition or use of property. Mr. Abrams seeks to facilitate legislative clarification of section 3 of the Act by (1) identifying the inherent textual ambiguity, (2) examining the legislative history of the Act for an explanation of the muddled language, (3) tracing the disparate results reached by the courts that have applied the section, and (4) proposing statutory techniques to clarify the liability language.