The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld a battery claim against the federal government for botching cataract surgery on a U.S. Navy veteran.
The 9-0 Court ruled that the Gonzalez Act limited the ban in the Federal Tort Claims Act on claims for certain intentional (and intentional-ish) torts such that it wouldn't bar claims for "malpractice committed by medical personnel of the armed forces and other specified agencies." Levin v. United States, No. 11-1351, slip op. at 4 (U.S. Mar. 4, 2013).
Justice Ginsburg wrote the opinion.
Justice Scalia joined in all of it except for two footnotes, where the Court cited legislative history in support of its reading of the statute.
For those counting, the Court has gone 2-0 for plaintiffs in the last couple of weeks.
Unless of course you count Gabelli v. Securities and Exchange Comm'n, No. 11-1274 (U.S. Feb. 27, 2013), in which Chief Justice Robert, writing for another unanimous Court, opined that another kind of exception -- the "discovery rule" exception that tolls the running of limitations for private securities law claims -- does not apply to the five-year statute of limitations for the Securities and Exchange Commission to bring civil actions for penalties under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940
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