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Full-Text Articles in Law
Reconceptualizing Sovereign Immunity, Harold J. Krent
Reconceptualizing Sovereign Immunity, Harold J. Krent
Vanderbilt Law Review
The United States generally is immune from suit without its con- sent. Accordingly, neither Congress nor the executive branch need pay damages' for any contract breached, any tort committed, or any constitutional right violated by the federal government. Although the doctrine of sovereign immunity persists, it persists subject to near unanimous condemnation from commentators. Many have rejected the underlying theory that the "King can do no wrong" as oddly out of place in our republican governments and many have noted as well that sovereign immunity was never applied as comprehensively in the past as it is today. Presently, there seems …
Defining The Government's Duty Under The Federal Tort Claims Act, Thomas A. Varlan
Defining The Government's Duty Under The Federal Tort Claims Act, Thomas A. Varlan
Vanderbilt Law Review
This Recent Development traces the Supreme Court's development of the analogous private liability test and examines the recent cases applying this test. The Recent Development then analyzes the divergent approaches taken in these cases and attempts to determine when an actionable duty arises under the Act.
Recent Decisions, James M. Redwine
Recent Decisions, James M. Redwine
Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law
The instant decision should serve to stimulate discussion on both the theoretical justifications for and the practical implications of jury trials in actions against governmental defendants, and therefore, may lead to revision of the FSIA. From a theoretical perspective, although the instant court correctly noted the changes effected by the Act, it failed to perceive the full extent of Congress' power in the domestic context. Congress, by its ability to classify entities as "agencies" or "instrumentalities" of the United States, thereby exempting specific entities from the non-jury trial provisions of FTCA, has the power, in effect, to restrict the scope …