Jones v. United States, 14

• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit
• Writing for the Court: CHASE, , and CLARK and FRANK, Circuit
• Citation: Jones v. United States, 207 F.2d 563 (2nd Cir. 1953)
• Decision Date: 28 October 1953
• Docket Number: No. 14,Docket 22687.,14
• Parties: JONES et ux. v. UNITED STATES.

207 F.2d 563 (1953)

JONES et ux. v. UNITED STATES.

No. 14, Docket 22687.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued October 6, 1953.

Decided October 28, 1953.

Clayton M. Jones, Jr., Jamestown, N. Y., for plaintiffs-appellants.

Warren E. Burger, Asst. Atty. Gen., John O. Henderson, U. S. Atty. for Western Dist. of N. Y., Buffalo, N. Y., Paul A. Sweeney, Atty., Department of Justice, Washington, D. C., and Lester S. Jayson, Atty., Department of Justice, New York City, for defendant-appellee.

Before CHASE, Chief Judge, and CLARK and FRANK, Circuit Judges.

FRANK, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs' second cause of action asserts wilful misrepresentation. This claim is clearly barred by Sec. 2680 (h) of the Act. See United States v. Silverton, 1 Cir., 200 F.2d 824, at page 826. We think the first cause of action, for negligence, is also barred. Section 2680 (h) prohibits suits against the government on claims arising out of "assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander, misrepresentation, deceit, or interference with contract rights." As "deceit" means fraudulent misrepresentation, "misrepresentation" must have been meant to include negligent misrepresentation,¹ since otherwise the word "misrepresentation" would be duplicative. The construction is strengthened by the inclusion of libel which may be either negligent or intentional.

The defendant has raised a number of other arguments in its briefs which we need not consider.

Affirmed.

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