The Virginia Tech massacre was by no means the first murderous rampage at a university in the state. Five years ago, a graduate student named Peter Odighizuwa who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia killed three and wounded three others at the Appalachian School of Law. He is presently serving six life sentences.
The AP reported that plaintiffs charged in a $23 million lawsuit that “school officials ignored a pattern of threats and disruptive behavior that should have warned them” that this student was dangerous. Eventually the plaintiffs settled for $1 million.
However, if similar lawsuits are filed in the wake of the Tech situation, it might be more difficult to collect damages, and here’s why. While the Appalachian case occurred at a private school, Virginia Tech apparently has some immunity because of its state school status.
It seems that “the state, its institutions and employees are largely protected from civil lawsuits by ‘sovereign immunity’—a doctrine rooted in a monarchical tradition that allowed grievances against the king only if he said it was okay.”
E. Brent Bryson, an attorney in the Appalachian case, has already spoken with potential Virginia Tech plain-tiffs, who are uncertain what their next moves will be. He explained that “even if you get around sovereign immunity, it’s still very difficult because the law in Virginia is not well settled on liability for third-party criminal acts.”
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