After noting that the FBI had managed the joint task force, the Sixth Circuit found that King could proceed with a Bivens actionrather than a 1983 claimbecause Brownback was acting pursuant to the authority of the United States, not the State of Michigan, when the alleged use of excessive force occurred. Responding to James desperate pleas for help, bystanders called the police stating that. This case involves a violent encounter between respondent James King and officers Todd Allen and Douglas Brownback, members of a federal task force, who mistook King for a fugitive. The officers thus would have been entitled to state qualified immunity had Michigan tort claims been brought against them. Hosts Mary Reichard and Jenny Rough analyze a case of simple facts and complicated law. Id. Narcotics Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), alleging four violations of his Fourth Amendment rights. Specifically, Brownback argues that the existence of an express exception in Section 2679(b)(2)(A) for Bivens claims is powerful evidence that Congress did not intend for a similar exception to apply to Section 2676s judgment bar because Congress did not explicitly include one. The following state regulations pages link to this page. The District Court did lack subject-matter jurisdiction over Kings FTCA claims. Today, there are about 200, involving officers from more than 650 different state and federal agencies. Law Enforcement argues that the proposed extension of the judgment bar would also harm federal employees, who could be forced to testify in multiple proceedings and who may continue to fear the possibility of duplicative litigation for months or years. at 45. Here's how it started: Twenty-one-year-old college student James King was. Brownback v. King - The George Washington Law Review Like James, bystanders did not know that the men beating him were with law enforcement officers. Thomas, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. The District Court ruled that the FTCA count in Kings complaint did not state a claim, because even assuming the complaints veracity, the officers used reasonable force, had probable cause to detain King, and otherwise acted within their authority. , bank robberies, narcotics, kidnappings, motor vehicle thefts, and fugitives. Here, however, in the unique context of the FTCA, all elements of a meritorious claim are also jurisdictional. IJ is dedicated to fighting judge-made rules that make it extremely difficult to hold government officials accountable for violating the Constitution. Unprovoked, Allen and Brownback tackled King, put him in a chokehold, and beat him so violently, King was briefly unconscious and later had to be hospitalized. Brief for Petitioner at 27. Like James, bystanders did not know that the men beating him were with law enforcement officers. In Brownback v. King, the Supreme Court handed the officers a partial victory, but critically left Kings Bivens claims alive. NOTE:Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. Circuit Court of Appeals denied them. As to his FTCA claims, the court granted the Governments summary judgment motion.2 It found that the undisputed facts showed that the officers did not act with malice. Before the Act was passed, a person injured by a federal employee's act (or omission) could sue the individual federal employee directly. The District Court dismissed Kings claims. 1 In 1939 and 1940 the 76th Congress considered 1,763 private bills, of which 315 became law. He also sued the officers individually under the implied cause of action recognized by Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Solicitor General) appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court and asserted an argument that would. Although it was clear that James was not the fugitive, but instead an innocent student whom the officers had misidentified, police still charged James with several felonies and took him by ambulance to the hospital, where they handcuffed James to his bed. based on the lack of jurisdiction). Id. Justin Pulliam, a citizen journalist in Texas, was arrested and prosecuted for his reporting on the activities of the Fort Bend County Sheriff. As James would only later discover, his muggers were actually a local police detective and an FBI agent working as part of a joint state-federal task force. Today about a thousand task forces operate nationwide, and that number is growing. Allen began violently beating King in front of a crowd of bystanders, some of whom began filming the incident. See id. I join the Courts opinion because I agree that the District Court dismissed Kings Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) claims on the merits. 3 The terms res judicata and claim preclusion often are used interchangeably. We leave it to the Sixth Circuit to address Kings alternative arguments on remand. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. at 434. [3] for injury or loss of property, or personal injury or death [4] caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any employee of the Government [5] while acting within the scope of his office or employment, [6] under 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. Ibid.