A Federal Courts Quiz

1/8/2021

Your hypothetical client was convicted of manslaughter and spent 10 years in the USDB. During one period of time, he was transferred for a 30-day period to a Marine Corps Brig in California. While there, he called a guard an "asshole," and the guard punched him in the face. Your hypothetical client's jaw was broken and $5,000 in medical expenses were incurred. He has now been released, and is domiciled and residing in New York. The punch occurred exactly one year prior.

How can you seek a remedy for Hypothetical Client in federal court for the punch? If not, why not?

This exercise reveals major shortcomings in current doctrine.

Brenner Fissell

EIC

4 Comments

Cloudesley Shovell

1/9/2021 08:26:17 am

A challenge! This reads almost like a bar exam question. Despite my utter ignorance in this field, I shall sail forth without any navigational aids. Dead reckoning will save the day!

My first thought was that made up judicial doctrine, the bane of tort lawyers, hated by Scalia, sharply criticized by various circuits, but living on because it benefits the big G: Feres. The federal Tort Claims Act, despite its title, covers both negligent and wrongful acts, so its not strictly limited to negligence, so the punch to the jaw is certainly covered as a "wrongful act" under the FTCA. Does Feres apply? Is the actor a federal employee? The facts imply such, but don't clearly state so (he's just a guard at the brig. Perhaps a contractor? Who knows? Not in the facts). Is the client covered by Feres? Is this incident to service? Is the client, as a prisoner, still in the military or not? Is his case final? Who knows? Not in the facts given. The absence of such facts suggests they don't matter, so I'm probably sailing confidently towards some rocks here. Do prisoner lawsuits against guards or prison staff generally fall under the FTCA or is there a special statute? Furl the sails and conduct more research!

Domiciled in New York must matter, it's in the facts. Is there some split in rulings between the 2nd Circuit (NY) and the 9th (CA) that matters here? I haven't the faintest idea.

Does the time period of precisely 30 days matter? It must, it's in the facts. I haven't the faintest idea why.

There would seem to be a statute of limitations issue, as it's now exactly one year since the punch to the jaw. Is this a claim against the USA that requires an administrative adjudication by the applicable agency prior to a federal court filing? In any case, something better get postmarked or filed today, assuming there's a 1-year limitations period applicable here in some way. In any case, the applicable limitations period, whatever it is, is certainly a big issue. Once again, more research!

Who incurred the medical expenses? The client was a prisoner, and presumably would have been treated by a DoD health care provider. Recent changes in the 2020 NDAA carve out an exemption to Feres for medical malpractice by DoD health care providers, but I'm straying far afield from the facts, another deadly course to sail. Come about!

Certainly there's a body of federal law concerning prisoner lawsuits against guards. I haven't the faintest clue about this area of law but the issue is sitting there in the hypothetical like a giant "this is important!" neon sign. More research required!

What about the amount of $5,000.00? Is there some statute, regulation, rule, or court doctrine that would apply that differentiates claims based on the amount of damages?

Does it matter that he is now released and no longer incarcerated?

About the only thing I can say is that if this client walked into my office reciting these facts, I would politely decline representation, commiserate over his injury, congratulate him on his freedom, caution him to do his best to not kill anybody else, and to not call cops and other authority figures "assholes" even if it's the truth, and document to the client in writing that his potential claim or lawsuit is outside my practice area and field of expertise, and that there may be limitations periods that may preclude his claim if he doesn't find a lawyer knowledgeable in the field of federal prisoner lawsuits post haste.

Kind regards,
CS

Philip D. Cave link

1/9/2021 02:30:13 pm

Ahem, the Admiral is talking about sailing by dead reckoning. Were we not to learn by prior mistakes?

Doonald G Rehkopf

1/9/2021 02:55:07 pm

Generally, the US has not waived sovereign immunity for intentional torts, e.g., assaults, via the Federal Tort Claims Act. However, there's the Law Enforcement "exception" to the general rule. Thus, the question becomes, is the guard a "law enforcement officer" as defined? The Supremes have not addressed this yet. Article 139, only applies to property damages-not personal injuries.. The status of the injured prisoner is likewise important, i.e., if he is still regarded as having military status as being a military prisoner [see, Art. 2(a)(7), UCMJ], then a Line of Duty determination should have been done to determine entitlement to damages - assuming the $5,000 expenses is valid [which I do not]. And so you come to Feres. For a good resource on the FTCA, see: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45732.pdf

Tami a/k/a Princess Leia

1/9/2021 05:13:13 pm

That the facts are vague on when the transfer to a Marine Corps Brig in California occurred. That the client spent 10 years in the USDB suggest the transfer occurred at the beginning of his sentence to confinement, and he was held in the brig until he could be transferred to the USDB. Not only does it seem like there's an SOL problem (which means he's also SOL), it also seems like a jurisdictional issue--New York would have to apply California law. of course, one would hope that he raised this problem to his appellate defense counsel and they argued an Eighth Amendment problem that warranted a reduction in confinement credit.

BTW, there were multiple cases of Army prisoners getting punched in the nuts by a guard in the early 2000s in a confinement facility in Germany.

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A Federal Courts Quiz

Brenner Fissell

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