Meredith v. United States’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 federal appellate · 7 district ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 28 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[OJbviously our embassy at Bangkok has no tort law of its own. Presumably the law applicable on these premises would be that of Thailand____ If this is so, the words “in a foreign country” in section 2680(k) must be read to include the embassy buildings and grounds or liability of the United States for acts of its employees will be determined by the law of a foreign power, contrary to the purpose of Congress. In any event, other possible reasons for the exclusion by Congress from the Federal Tort Claims Act of claims “arising in a foreign country” argue forcefully against the construction of section 2680(k) suggested by appellant. Judge Sobeloff has stated these reasons as follows: “the absence of United States courts in such countries, with resulting problems of venue, and the difficulty of bringing defense witnesses from the scene of the alleged tort to places far removed; and * * * a reluctance to extend the Act’s benefits to foreign populations.” Burna v. United States, 240 F.2d 720 , 722 (4th Cir.1957). Obviously, each of these considerations is equally applicable whether a tort occurs in Bangkok within the American Embassy or outside the Embassy grounds. Finally, without attempting an exhaustive catalogue or detailed analysis, we note that provisions of a number of other statutes (see, e.g. 10 U.S.C.A. §§ 2734 and 2734(a); 5 U.S.C.A. § 170g(b) and (f); 42 U.S.C.A. § 2478 (b)(13); 22 U.S.C.A. § 2509 (b)) point to a Congressional intention that claims for property damage,”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Beattie v. United States

2. “Thus, United States embassies are not within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Corey