Page:Parish v. Pitts, 244 Ark. 1239 (1968).pdf/15

Rh settled correctly. Brickhouse v. Hill, 167 Ark. 513, 522, 268 S. W. 865 (1925). We are not here faced with a rule of property, for the law of torts does not affect ownership or devolution of title. Contracts and wills are not drawn in reliance upon it. Ordinarily then the doctrine of stare decisis is of no great weight in the field of tort law. Here, however, a numerous class, the municipalities, relying on the past decisions of this Court granting them immunity, may well have neglected to investigate accidents or to insure against liability as they are permitted by statute to do. Hence, because of this Court's prior rulings, many would be unprepared to present defenses otherwise available to them, and in event of the imposition of liability, a small municipality might find itself financially unable to meet it without the possibility of disrupting its services to the public.

That possible hardship on those who have justifiably relied upon the law as announced by the Court in the past stems from the retroactive effect normally given a court decision. Legislative acts which normally operate only in the future avoid this effect. It is for this reason that many of the courts have left such problems for legislative solution. Whittington v. Flint, 43 Ark. 504 (1884). In the past we have met the problem by making our decisions operative ' only in the future. Hare v. General Contract Purchase Corp., 220 Ark. 601, 249 S. W. 2d 973 (1952). Other courts faced with this problem arising from elimination of past error have solved it in all three ways open to us: California in the Muskopf case applied the decision in the normal manner; making it retroactive as to the present case and all other actions arising within the statute of limitations. The Legislature fixed a period during which the new rule would be held in abeyance. Cal. Stat. ch. 1404. In Williams v. City of Detroit, supra, the Michigan court held that governmental immunity no longer would be recognized from the date that decision, while in Holytz v. City of Milwaukee, supra, Wisconsin allowed suit by the plaintiff before it, but