THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze, interpret and apply provisions of the Federal Tort Claims Act. Volume 1 of the casebook covers the District of Columbia Circuit and the First through the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. As a general rule, the United States is immune from claims for money damages in civil suits. See Larson v. Domestic & Foreign Commerce Corp., 337 U.S. 682, 686-90, 69 S.Ct. 1457, 93 L.Ed. 1628 (1949). The FTCA waives the United States' sovereign immunity for civil suits for money damages "for injury or loss of property, or personal injury or death caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any employee of the Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment." 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b)(1). Where the FTCA's waiver is operative, the government is liable in tort "in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances." Id. § 2674. However, this broad waiver of sovereign immunity is cabined by a list of exceptions. See id. § 2680. [T]he FTCA's waiver does not apply to "[a]ny claim ... based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty on the part of a federal agency or an employee of the Government, whether or not the discretion involved be abused." Id. § 2680(a). The exceptions to the FTCA's immunity waiver work to defeat the subject matter jurisdiction of the federal courts. Indemnity Ins. Co. of N. Am. v. United States, 569 F.3d 175, 180 (4th Cir. 2009). Thus, the burden is on the plaintiff in such a civil suit to establish "that the discretionary function exception does not foreclose their claim." Seaside Farm, Inc. v. United States, 842 F.3d 853, 857 (4th Cir. 2016). This exception represents one limit to the extent of "Congress' willingness to impose tort liability upon the United States." United States v. S.A. Empresa de Viacao Aerea Rio Grandense (Varig Airlines), 467 U.S. 797, 808, 104 S.Ct. 2755, 81 L.Ed.2d 660 (1984). It exists to prevent interference by the judiciary in the policy-laden balancing that accompanies the exercise of executive discretion. See Baum v. United States, 986 F.2d 716, 720 (4th Cir. 1993); Tiffany v. United States, 931 F.2d 271, 276 (4th Cir. 1991). Most importantly, the exception protects that "discretion of the executive ... to act according to [his] judgment of the best course, a concept of substantial historical ancestry in American law." Dalehite v. United States, 346 U.S. 15, 34, 73 S.Ct. 956, 97 L.Ed. 1427 (1953). Taken together, these considerations make manifest the important separation-of-powers principles that animate the discretionary function exception. See Holbrook v. United States, 673 F.3d 341, 345 (4th Cir. 2012). Blanco Ayala v. United States, 982 F. 3d 209 (4th Cir. 2020)

THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze, interpret and apply provisions of the Federal Tort Claims Act. * * * "As a sovereign, the United States is immune from suit unless it consents to be sued." White-Squire v. U.S. Postal Serv., 592 F.3d 453, 456 (3d Cir. 2010). The FTCA is "a limited waiver of the sovereign immunity of the United States," Miller v. Phila. Geriatric Ctr., 463 F.3d 266, 270 (3d Cir. 2006), that provides that: The United States shall be liable, respecting the provisions of this title relating to tort claims, in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances, but shall not be liable for interest prior to judgment or for punitive damages. * * *28 U.S.C. § 2674; see also Gotha v. United States, 115 F.3d 176, 179 (3d Cir. 1997) ("The Federal Torts [sic] Claims Act is a partial abrogation of the federal government's sovereign immunity that permits suits for torts against the United States.")."To make a claim under the FTCA, a claimant first must file her claim with the administrative agency allegedly responsible for her injuries." Santos ex rel. Beato v. United States, 559 F.3d 189, 193 (3d Cir. 2009). The statute provides: An action shall not be instituted upon a claim against the United States for money damages for injury or loss of property or personal injury or death caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any employee of the Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment, unless the claimant shall have first presented the claim to the appropriate Federal agency and his claim shall have been finally denied by the agency in writing and sent by certified or registered mail. Sconiers v. US, 896 F. 3d 595 (3rd Cir. 2018)

The Federal Tort Claims Act is the statute by which the United States authorises tort suits to be brought against itself. With exceptions, it makes the United States liable for injuries caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any federal employee acting within the scope of his employment, in accordance with the law of the state where the act or omission occurred. Three major exceptions, under which the United States may not be held liable, even in circumstances where a private person could be held liable under state law, are the Feres doctrine, which prohibits suits by military personnel for injuries sustained incident to service; the discretionary function exception, which immunises the United States for acts or omissions of its employees that involve policy decisions; and the intentional tort exception, which precludes suits against the United States for assault and battery, among some other intentional torts, unless they are committed by federal law enforcement or investigative officials. This book discusses, among other things, the application of the Feres doctrine to suits for injuries caused by medical malpractice in the military, the prohibition of suits by victims of atomic testing, Supreme Court cases interpreting the discretionary function exception, the extent to which federal employees may be held liable for torts they commit in the scope of their employment, and the government contractor defence to products liability design defect suits.