9th Circuit OKs dismissal of Jaycee Dugard suit over kidnapping by parolee who held her for 18 years
The government’s failure to supervise closely a paroled sex offender who held a kidnapping victim captive for 18 years behind his California home didn’t establish a cause of action, a federal appeals court has ruled.
Plaintiff Jaycee Dugard, who is now 35, had contended in the suit against the federal government that she would never have been abducted from a school bus stop in 1991 by Phillip Garrido and his wife if he had been imprisoned, as he should have been, for numerous parole violations. He had been released after serving over 10 years in a 1976 federal kidnapping and rape case.
However, a divided three-judge panel on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s 2013 dismissal of the San Francisco case under the Federal Tort Claims Act, saying in a brief unpublished opinion (PDF) that Dugard was not a “specifically identifiable victim” who foreseeably was likely to be harmed by Garrido.
“Because a private individual in like circumstances would not be liable under California law, the United States cannot be held liable under the FTCA for the conduct of the parole officer here,” wrote the majority of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in Pasadena.
A dissenting judge said the government should be held liable for foreseeable victims even if they cannot be specifically identified in advance.
In 2010, Dugard received a $20 million settlement from the state of California for its failures in parole supervision of Garrido between 1999 and 2009, Bay City News Service reported.
Courthouse News also has a story.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Couple Plead Guilty in 1991 Kidnap of Jaycee Dugard, 11, Held Captive for 18 Years at Home”
ABAJournal.com: “Jaycee Dugard Sues Feds, Says ‘Colossal Blunders’ Let Parolee Kidnap and Hold Her Captive 18 Years”
