Skeels v. United States, Civ. A. No. 2031.
| Decision Date | 07 July 1947 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 2031. |
| Parties | SKEELS v. UNITED STATES. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Louisiana |
Booth, Lockard & Jack and Whitfield Jack, all of Shreveport, for plaintiff.
Malcolm E. Lafargue, U. S. Atty., and Wm. J. Fleniken, Asst. U. S. Atty., both of Shreveport, for defendant.
This is a suit by the administrator of the estate of Jasper D. Skeels for the use and benefit of his widow, Mrs. Gladys Skeels Uthoff, and his mother, Mrs. Zell Ann Wilie Skeels, under the Federal Tort Claims Act of 1946, Tit. IV, sec. 402 et seq., Pub.Law No. 601, 79th Congress, Chapter 753, Second Session., 28 U.S.C.A. § 921 et seq.
The pertinent articles of the complaint are as follows:
Counsel for the Government have moved to dismiss the complaint for the reasons, as alleged, it disclosed no ground for relief because (1) it affirmatively shows that whatever injury was caused resulted from combat activities of the armed forces while the nation was at war; and (2) no negligence is shown.
(1) The law relied upon is a part of what was known as the LaFollette Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, 60 Stat. 812. Its purpose was to relieve Congress of the duty of considering hundreds of bills introduced annually for the reimbursement of persons for torts committed by governmental agencies or agents. Section 410(a) confers upon the judges of the United States District Courts the duty to hear and determine without the aid of juries "any claim against the United States, for money only, * * * on account of damage to or loss of property or on account of 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, under circumstances where the United States, if a private person, would be liable to the claimant for such damage, loss, injury, or death in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred." (Emphasis by the writer.)
Section 421, under the heading of Exceptions declares that "The provisions of this title shall not apply to— * * * (j) any claim arising out of the combatant activities of the...
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