LIEN / SUE UNLAWFUL POLICE

Unanimous Supreme Court Rules that Citizens Can Hold Federal

Government Liable for Abuse by Law Enforcement Officers (Police,
Prison Guards)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its ruling in Millbrook v. United States, a unanimous U.S. Supreme
Court has concluded that the U.S. government may be held liable for abuses intentionally carried
out by law enforcement officers in the course of their employment. The Court’s ruling dovetails
with arguments put forward by The Rutherford Institute in its amicus brief, which urged the
Court to enforce the plain meaning of federal statutes allowing citizens to sue the government for
injuries intentionally inflicted by law enforcement officers.
In striking down lower court rulings, the justices held that the courts had erred in dismissing a
prisoner’s lawsuit alleging that three prison guards had brutally and sexually assaulted him. The
lower courts justified their ruling under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which allows
individuals to sue the government for misconduct by law enforcement officials only if the injury
inflicted occurs while the officers are in the course of making an arrest or seizure, or executing a
search. In their amicus brief, Rutherford Institute attorneys asked the Supreme Court to protect
citizens from government brutality by eliminating the restriction on government liability.
“Hopefully, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Millbrook will send a strong message to the
government’s various law enforcement agencies that they need to do a better job of policing their
employees—whether they’re police officers or prison guards—and holding them accountable to
respecting citizens’ rights, especially while on the job,” said John W. Whitehead, president of
The Rutherford Institute. “At a time when the courts are increasingly giving deference to the
police and prioritizing security over civil liberties, this ruling is at least an encouraging glimmer
in the gloom.”
In 1948 Congress enacted the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) to provide a limited waiver of
“sovereign” immunity for the negligent acts of government agents, despite the fact that the
United States is generally not liable for injuries to persons caused by the negligent or intentional
acts of government employees and agents. The original version of the FTCA preserved
government immunity for “intentional torts” such as assault, battery and false imprisonment.
However, in 1974, Congress amended the FTCA to allow the government to be sued for
intentional torts by “law enforcement officers.”
In 2011, Kim Millbrook, a prisoner at a federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, filed an
FTCA lawsuit against the United States alleging that three prison guards had brutally assaulted
him in the basement of the prison, forcibly restraining Millbrook and forcing him to perform oral
sex. Millbrook’s lawsuit was dismissed by a federal district court which ruled that the 1974
amendment to the FTCA allowing for intentional tort claims against law enforcement officers
only applies to acts that occur during searches, while seizing evidence, or while making arrests.
The district court’s decision was affirmed on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third
Circuit, which, relying on prior rulings from the circuit, held that because the 1974 amendment
defines “law enforcement officers” as officers “empowered by law to execute searches, to seize
evidence, or to make arrests,” the scope of the waiver of immunity for intentional torts applies
only where the harmful act occurs in the course of one of those three duties. The U.S. Supreme
Court rejected this interpretation, noting that the plain language of the law does not restrict the
waiver of immunity to acts that occur during searches, seizures, and arrests.
LET THE LAWSUITS BEGIN!!
Rev.Steven B.Thompson,Chapter Director
Benzie County NORML
6215 Smeltzer Rd.
Benzonia,MI 49616
(231) 882-4496
www.minorml.org
(Former Executive Director of Michigan NORML
from May,2007 to November,2011)

"Kaneh bosm" in the

old Hebrew scrolls, quite literally the Biblical Tree of Life, used by
early Christians to treat everything from skin diseases to deep pain and
despair.
WE DO NOT MANUFACTURE A DRUG...WE GROW A PLANT!!