Legal Question in Military Law in South Carolina
Can a civilian sue the Government?
Our son died on christmas eve 2002 while in boot camp. It is still under investigation. As the father (Divorced Joint legal custody) I was ignored by the military, never called when he died and left out of all info. I fought for my rights and got a Caco officer 2 months after he died. There has been many extinuating cercumstances involved in his death that have come out of the investigation. My question is can a civilian, as myself sue the government?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Can a civilian sue the Government?
The Ferris doctrine does not allow you to sue the government for injuries a soldier sustains while on active duty. Although there has been several attempts to repeal this doctrine currently it will not allow you to prevail.
Re: Can a civilian sue the Government?
Civilians can sue under the Federal Tort Claims Act, but suing the military is difficult on a good day, and impossible in some circumstances. Without knowing more about what happened, I can't offer you any sound advice. However, if the death was "incident to his service" meaning that it was caused in whole or in part due to the activities of training or soldiering, your likelihood of success is limited.
In some circumstances, however, your best bet may be to sue someone other than the government. For example, in a crash of a helicopter, you might want to sue the manufacturer of the helicopter.
You should probably seek out counsel quickly to determine what rights you may or may not have.
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