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Federal Tort Claims Act
 
 
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The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), August 2, 1946, ch. 753, title IV, , and ), is a statute enacted by the United States Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
 in 1946 which permits private parties to sue the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 in a federal court
United States federal courts

The United States federal courts comprises the Judiciary of government organized under the United States Constitution and Law of the United States of the federal government of the United States....
 for most torts committed by persons acting on behalf of the United States. The FTCA constitutes a limited waiver of sovereign immunity
Sovereign immunity

Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a type of immunity that in common law jurisdictions traces its origins from early English law. Generally speaking it is the doctrine that the monarch or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from lawsuit or criminal law; hence the saying, the king can do no wrong....
.

ility under the FTCA is limited to "circumstances where the United States, if a private person, would be liable to the claimant in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred." .






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The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), August 2, 1946, ch. 753, title IV, , and ), is a statute enacted by the United States Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
 in 1946 which permits private parties to sue the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 in a federal court
United States federal courts

The United States federal courts comprises the Judiciary of government organized under the United States Constitution and Law of the United States of the federal government of the United States....
 for most torts committed by persons acting on behalf of the United States. The FTCA constitutes a limited waiver of sovereign immunity
Sovereign immunity

Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a type of immunity that in common law jurisdictions traces its origins from early English law. Generally speaking it is the doctrine that the monarch or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from lawsuit or criminal law; hence the saying, the king can do no wrong....
.

Limitations

Liability under the FTCA is limited to "circumstances where the United States, if a private person, would be liable to the claimant in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred." . The FTCA exempts, among other things, claims based upon the performance, or failure to perform, a "discretionary function or duty." . The FTCA also exempts a number of intentional tort
Intentional tort

An intentional tort is a category of torts that describes a civil wrong resulting from an intentional act on the part of the tortfeasor. The term negligence tort, on the other hand, pertains to a tort that simply results from the failure of the tortfeasor to take sufficient care in fulfilling a duty owed....
s, although the United States is liable for specific intentional torts such as assault
Assault

Assault is a crime of violence against another human. In some jurisdictions, including Australia and New Zealand, assault refers to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, while in other jurisdictions, such as the United States, assault may refer only to the threat of violence caused by an immediate show of fo...
, battery
Battery (tort)

At common law, battery is the tort of intentionally and voluntarily bringing about an unconsented harmful or offensive contact with a person or to something closely associated with them ....
, and false imprisonment
False imprisonment

False imprisonment is a tort, and possibly a crime, wherein a person is intentionally confined without legal authority....
, if committed by federal law enforcement
Law enforcement

Law enforcement may refer to:...
 officers. .

The Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
 has limited the use of the FTCA in cases involving the military in the Feres doctrine
Feres v. United States

Feres v. United States, Case citation , is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the United States is not liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries to members of the armed forces sustained while on active duty and not on furlough and resulting from the negligence of others in the armed forces....
 .

History

The Act was passed following the 1945 crash of a B-25 Mitchell
B-25 Mitchell

The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allies of World War II air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades....
 bomber
Bomber

A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, primarily by dropping bombs on them....
, piloted in thick fog
Fog

Fog is a cloud bank that is in contact with the ground. A cloud may be considered partly fog; for example, the part of a cloud that is suspended in the air above the ground is not considered fog, whereas the part of the cloud that comes in contact with higher ground is considered fog....
 by Lieutenant Colonel William F. Smith, Jr. into the north side of the Empire State Building
Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the List of U.S....
. As NPR reported, "Eight months after the crash, the U.S. government offered money to families of the victims. Some accepted, but others initiated a lawsuit that resulted in landmark legislation. The Federal Tort Claims Act of 1946, for the first time, gave American citizens the right to sue the federal government." Although the crash was not the initial catalyst for the the bill, which had been pending in Congress for more than two decades, the statute was made retroactive to 1945 in order to allow victims of that crash to seek recovery.

See also

  • Texas City Disaster
    Texas City Disaster

    The Texas City Disaster of April 16, 1947, started with the mid-morning fire and detonation of approximately 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate on board the France-registered vessel SS Grandcamp in the port at Texas City, Texas, Texas, killing at least 581 people....
     (1947), which was the first failed lawsuit using the FTCA.
  • United States v. Stanley
    United States v. Stanley

    In United States v. Stanley , the United States Supreme Court found that a serviceman could not file a tort action against the federal government, even though the government secretly administered doses of LSD to the serviceman as part of an experimental program, because his injuries were found by the lower court to be service-related....
     (1987)
  • United States Claims Court


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