Boe v. State

In Boe v. State (1984), 37 Ill. Ct. Cl. 72, the Claimant was the mother of a passenger who was killed in an automobile which collided with an allegedly defective guardrail. Claimant sued the State but not the driver of the automobile, arguing "that Claimants should be given a certain latitude and discretion in determining whom to sue. From Claimant's point of view, it probably did not seem reasonable to sue an uninsured 18-year-old boy with no assets." (Id. at 75.) However, in rejecting Claimant's argument, the Court stated that it does not "recognize any discretion on the part of Claimants to pick and choose whom they wish to sue." Id. Claimant's decedent was killed when the car in which she was a passenger collided with an allegedly defective guardrail on a State highway. The driver of the automobile was an 18-year-old uninsured man with no assets. The Court held that section 25 of the Court of Claims Act and section 790.60 of the Court of Claims Regulations barred claimant's suit against the State.