Sheridan V. United States
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OR:

''Sheridan v. United States'', 487 U.S. 392 (1988), was a
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case concerning what constitutes a claim "arising out of" an
assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
or
battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
within the meaning of the
Federal Tort Claims Act The Federal Tort Claims Act (August 2, 1946, ch.646, Title IV, 28 U.S.C. Part VI, Chapter 171and ) ("FTCA") is a 1946 federal statute that permits private parties to sue the United States in a federal court for most torts committed by person ...
(FTCA). The Supreme Court held that the FTCA's
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 (alleged wrongdoer). The term negligence, on the other hand, pertains to a tort that simply results from the f ...
exception did not apply.


Background

Naval medical aide Carr became intoxicated after his shift, and three of his co-workers found him face down on a hospital floor. They attempted to bring him to the
emergency room An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...
, but he broke away and showed that he had a gun. The three co-workers fled and did nothing more. The intoxicated serviceman then fired several single shots into a car on a public street near
Bethesda Naval Hospital The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), formerly known as the National Naval Medical Center and colloquially referred to as the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed, or Navy Med, is a United States' tri-service military medi ...
and injured
plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the p ...
s and damaged their car.


Lower courts

While 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b) of the Federal Tort Claims Act gives individuals the right to sue the federal government, the government is generally not liable for intentional torts committed by its employees, as 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h) takes away that right for injuries arising out of assault or battery. However, the plaintiffs argued that the co-workers were the
negligent Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as a ...
party in allowing Carr to continue in his drunken stupor. The government would have been liable under
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
law, and the government would have been liable if Carr were not a government employee. However, the District Court held that because Carr was a government employee, prior
Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryland ...
precedent was a bar to recovery. The Fourth Circuit upheld the decision of the trial court.


Opinion of the Court

In a majority opinion by
Justice Stevens John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-olde ...
, the Court noted that the injury arose from two claims: negligence by Carr's co-workers and assault by Carr. In '' United States v. Muniz'', 374 U.S. 150 (1963), the Supreme Court held that the intentional tort exception did not apply when
prison guard A prison officer or corrections officer is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation of prisoners. They are responsible for the care, custody, and control of individuals who have been ...
s were negligent in preventing a prisoner from assault. This case could have been decided because the claim arose out of the negligence of the prisoner guards, and the assault was just the natural causal effect of the negligence, or because the Supreme Court held that if the only issue was whether the Government should be held liable for Carr's action, the intentional tort exception would preclude litigation under the FTCA. However, the "Government voluntarily adopted regulations that prohibit the possession of
firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
s on the naval base and that require personnel to report the present of any such firearm, and by further voluntarily undertaking to provide care to a person who was visibly drunk and visibly armed, the Government assumed responsibility to 'perform its good Samaritan task in a careful manner.'" '' Indian Towing Co. v. United States'', 350 U.S. 61, 65 (1955). Carr's status as a federal employee, as well as his act being intentional as opposed to negligent, was irrelevant since the co-workers' negligence was at issue.


See also

*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 487 This is a list of all United States Supreme Court cases from volume 487 of the ''United States Reports The ''United States Reports'' () are the official record ( law reports) of the Supreme Court of the United States. They include rulings, or ...
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases This page serves as an index of lists of United States Supreme Court cases. The United States Supreme Court is the highest federal court of the United States. By Chief Justice Court historians and other legal scholars consider each Chief J ...
*
Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume The following is a complete list of cases decided by the United States Supreme Court organized by volume of the ''United States Reports'' in which they appear. This is a list of volumes of ''U.S. Reports'', and the links point to the contents of e ...
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Rehnquist Court This is a partial chronological list of cases decided by the United States Supreme Court during the Rehnquist Court, the tenure of Chief Justice William Rehnquist from September 26, 1986, through September 3, 2005. The cases are listed chronolo ...


External links

* {{United States tort case law United States tort case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court 1988 in United States case law