46 U.S.C. § 31102
Section 31102 · Waiver of immunity
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 49 court decisions — leading case McMellon v. United States (2004)
Most recently applied in Alexis Viera Borges v. United States (June 2016)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) In General.—A civil action in personam in admiralty may be brought, or an impleader filed, against the United States for—
(1) damages caused by a public vessel of the United States; or
(2) compensation for towage and salvage services, including contract salvage, rendered to a public vessel of the United States.
(b) Counterclaim or Setoff.—If the United States brings a civil action in admiralty for damages caused by a privately owned vessel, the owner of the vessel, or the successor in interest, may file a counterclaim in personam, or claim a setoff, against the United States for damages arising out of the same subject matter.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 31102(a) 46 App.:781. Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 428, §1, 43 Stat. 1112. 31102(b) 46 App.:783 (words before proviso). Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 428, §3 (words before proviso), 43 Stat. 1112. In this section, the words “civil action” are substituted for “libel” because of rule 2 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (28 App. U.S.C.).
In subsection (a), the words “Provided, That the cause of action arose after the 6th day of April, 1920” are omitted as unnecessary.
In subsection (b), the words “in rem or in personam” are omitted as unnecessary. The words “file a counterclaim in personam, or claim a setoff” are substituted for “file a cross libel in personam or claim a set-off or counterclaim” to conform to the terminolgy in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and to eliminate unnecessary words. The words “for damages arising out of the same subject matter” are substituted for “in such suit for and on account of any damages arising out of the same subject matter or cause of action” to eliminate unnecessary words.