Nebraska District Court Judge Terri S. Harder of Minden, Nebraska, was invited to sit with the Nebraska Supreme Court on March 6, 2024.

Harder heard arguments in the case of S-23-0627, Raysean Barber v. State of Nebraska.  In this case, the district court determined that Appellant’s claim fell within the battery exemption under the Political Subdivision State Tort Claim Act, and the district court granted the State’s motion to dismiss the case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.  On its own motion, the Supreme Court ordered this case to be transferred from the docket of the Court of Appeals to its docket.

She sat in place of Justice John Freudenberg, who was recused from the case. The Court session was held in the Supreme Court Courtroom of the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln.

Seven justices make up the Nebraska Supreme Court: Chief Justice Mike Heavican and six associate justices. On occasion, a justice must recuse him or herself from a case, and a judge from a district court or the Court of Appeals is asked to sit with the Supreme Court.

The March 6, 2024, oral arguments can be viewed on the Court’s archive.

Reporters:

• Judicial Profile for District Court Judge Terri S. Harder 
• Background on the Supreme Court
• Justices of the Nebraska Supreme Court

Screenshot from argument session on Nebraska Public Media:

(L to R) Justice Jonathan Papik, Justice Stephanie Stacy, Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman, Chief Justice Mike Heavican, Justice William Cassel, and Judge Terri Harder. Arguing before the Court is self-represented litigant Raysean Barber. Recording Court arguments is Allyson Stewart.