Civil Procedure Keyed to Marcus
Will v. Hallock
Facts
Susan and Richard Hallock owned and operated a computer software business from home. Richard’s credit card was stolen and used to purchase child porn. The United States Customs Service investigates people that logged onto this child porn website. During the investigation the agents destroyed the equipment, software and disk drives so badly that the Hallocks were forced out of business. No criminal charges were brought against Richard, but the Hallocks chose to sue the government under the Federal Tort Claim Act to abrogate the Government’s immunity from suit. Meanwhile Susan also brought suit against the actual agents that caused the harm. When the district court decided not to waive immunity, the agents filed a motion to dismiss the case and to bar judgment based on the first case as well but the court denied that motion. The Court of appeals found collateral jurisdiction and affirmed the district courts ruling.
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