"Any Other Law-Enforcement Officer": Federal Tort Claims Act § 2680(c)

Part I of this Note discusses the historical background of this controversy.9 Part II analyzes in chronological order federal court rulings concerning the exception."Part III examines in detail Kurinsky v. United States, the Sixth Circuit case that created the circuit split. 1 Part IV analyzes the arguments advanced by the Sixth Circuit in Kurinsky and explains why the Sixth Circuit's reasoning is unsound. 2 Finally, the Note concludes that the proper interpretation of § 2680(c) is as a broad exception which applies to all law-enforcement officers, regardless of the capacity in which they act.13 I. BACKGROUND The principle of sovereign immunity comes from the English common law. 4 Under English law, "the king could do no wrong."'"In American jurisprudence, that concept translates into immunity for the federal government unless it expressly grants permission for a lawsuit to be brought against it.6 Until Congress enacted the FrCA in 1946, it granted such permission in the form of private bills.'These bills provided individualized permission to sue the United States in the Court of Claims.But the wheels of justice in these cases turned quite slowly, Beef, Weighing Approximately 154,121 Pounds, 726 F.2d 1481 (10th Cir.), cert.denied, Jarboe-Lackey Feedlots, Inc. v. United States, 469 U.S. 825 (1984); United States v. Lockheed L-188 Aircra% 656 F.2d 390 (9th Cir.1979).9 See infra notes 14-24 and accompanying text.