SCOTUS: Military Injuries Revisited

| March 24, 2025 | 33 Comments

Calling All Legal Eagles of Every Variety!

Attention all courthouse comedians, nautical negotiators (i.e. sea lawyers), military mouthpieces (i.e. barracks lawyers), and those with actual law degrees!

This appears to be the ideal debate for:

  • Barracks lawyers with opinions stronger than their evidence
  • Maritime mouthpieces who’ve earned their JDs from the University of Below Deck
  • JAG officers who juggle courtrooms and camo with equal enthusiasm
  • And those rare creatures who actually paid for law school and have the debt to prove it

Your expertise (or enthusiastic approximation thereof) is urgently required in this discussion!

Pursuant to…

Justice Clarence Thomas has called for the Supreme Court to reconsider or limit the 75-year-old Feres v. United States ruling from 1950. This decision shields the U.S. government from liability for injuries sustained by active-duty military personnel. Thomas expressed his dissent in the case of Ryan G. Carter v. United States, where the court declined to hear an appeal challenging the Feres doctrine.

The Feres doctrine, established in 1950, prevents active-duty service members from suing the government for injuries incident to military service. Thomas argues that this doctrine lacks basis in the Federal Tort Claims Act and has been widely criticized by legal scholars. He contends that Feres unfairly denies military personnel the same legal rights as civilians, even in cases with tenuous connections to military service.

Despite some exceptions made by Congress, such as allowing malpractice claims against the Defense Department and claims related to Camp Lejeune water contamination, the Feres doctrine remains largely intact. Thomas’s dissent highlights the ongoing debate about the fairness of this ruling and its impact on service members’ ability to seek legal recourse for injuries sustained during their service.

Supreme Court Justice Wants to Get Rid of a 75-Year-Old Ruling

By Maria W. • Mar 14, 2025
Justice Clarence Thomas stated Feb. 24 the Supreme Court should change or limit a decision made 75 years ago. The 1950 case, Feres v. United States, ruled the U.S. government isn’t responsible for injuries that happen to military members while they are on active duty. However, the ruling also said the government could still be held accountable for claims that weren’t related to military service.

Category: SCOTUS

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
2000


33 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Green Thumb

I wonder if I could sue for them hurting my pride?

5JC

If your pride was gay then, yes.

Green Thumb

I now have a bruised ego.

5JC

I’m on board. I say if you want to sue though you should agree to drop any VA claims up front to avoid double compensation.

Grunt

That’s fair.

Skippy

I agree

Daisy Cutter

Is there any legal precedence for compensation for getting sand in my taint?

Tallywhagger

Depends on whether it was wet sand or dry sand.

tom reynolds

It started out dry…

RGR 4-78

Was the sand contaminated by something the U.S. Military did or didn’t do?

SgtM

So all the guys in the 80’s that popped their knees when the Marines implemented the pt with full packs, running up bleachers and climbing ropes etc. LOTS of peoples were medically discharged with popped knees. It only took a few months and all that went away.

Veritas Omnia Vincit

Not responsible for injuries sustained while serving….

Once again reminding all of us that the “thanks of a grateful nation” are largely hollow words rendered meaningless by the subsequent treatment of those sacrificing their bodies or their lives on behalf of said grateful nation…

Prior Service (RET)

Cue the watering down of every hard training event in 3, 2, ….

DIV CG becomes the approval authority for every PT session. Corps commander is approval for any live fire, with a field grade officer present. FORSCOM commander for any maneuver training at night. SECDEF approval for training at battalion or higher.

First quarterly training brief “Yes sir, I’m still a “T” in all my mission essential tasks.”

JustALurkinAround

I’m Mark Milley and I approve your plan.

11B-Mailclerk

Rock painting and lawn mowing. That’s the ticket!

MIRanger

As long as you are properly licensed on that “Lawn Mower” and wearing the necessary protective gear and aided by ground guides in Safety Orange and safety stakes!

USAF E-5

I’d be more concerned about botched diagnosis, surgeries, wrongful death, etc. There’s plenty of that to go around. Even though there might be a justifiable cause of action, I’d be more concerned about the governments’ exposure. It’s just incalculable, especially with the number of scum sucking lawyer’s in the USA. Better leadership would solve the problem, or at least reduce it.

Hack Stone

Maybe now Hack Stone can collect for being exposed to Dippydoodleitis.

Green Thumb

I am sure Phil Monkress (CEO of All-Points Logistics) is working an angle.

Odie

Stealing that phrase

Hack Stone

Dippydoodleitis has been plaguing mankind since 10,000,000 BC. IYKYK.

Daisy Cutter

Your road was long and winding. The struggle is real.

Hack Stone

Just surprised that Hack never developed cancer from being exposed to all of that toxic shenanigans while on Recruiting Duty. And finding the booking photo of the former SNCOIC of the office was just as satisfying as learning that Psul of The Ballsack declared personal bankruptcy for the third time. Or was it the fourth? Hard to keep track.

Eric (the former OC Tanker)

You mean stuff like OHT, FRH, DF2, JP8, MOGAS, RBC, LSA, PL SPECAL, Dry Cleaning Solvent, GAA, BR, Turboshaft oil, OE/HDO-10, OE/HDO-30 and any other I may have inadvertently left off the list.

Forest Bondurant

Reminds me of this.

1000003371
A Proud Infidel®™

You forgot caffeine, nicotine and hate!

ETC(SS)

Twice on the hate! I always thought the point of the Feres doctrine was you couldn’t sue the government for things that occurred because of war fighting. Glad to see that bullshit like sending grunts through atomic wastelands might just be dumb as hell and the government should pay for it (it took Congress to fix that). When the military gets stupid it shows great skills at it sometimes.

Tallywhagger

Just to clarify one thing, MoGas is not QueerGas… or any that kind of shit. I still wouldn’t try and run it in a real diesel engine but, if all ya’ really want/need is something to run a boat/jeep/airplane engine/lawn mower or kick start a campfire/charcoal grill or good quality cigarette lighter, then git’r’dun!

jeff LPH 3 63-66

I wonder if I can make a claim on my M-1 thumb from around 1964. Speaking of I wonder, that’s the lead in to the Bronx Belmonts chiming off on “I Wonder Why” 1958 on the NYC Laurie record label…

rgr769

Well, I am one of the rare ones, but I graduated without school debt cuz I paid off my last tuition so they would graduate me. My private law school was pretty ruthless about making sure their students were paid up before it issued a diploma.

I must say we need more excuses for lawers to sue the government like we need cases of SEAsian VD.

Tallywhagger

I ended up taking a couple of student loans in the last year of college because it was a good deal with interest rates lower than credit cards and IRAs.

I paid off the credit cards and maxed out the IRA contribution, paid tuition in full and then paid the loans off over a couple of years. The payments were something on the order of $105 per month.

Sure wish that they would make law school free for old folks, space allowing and all that. It would be great fun to learn something new and have something to do.

rgr769

Yes, law school has become ridiculously expensive in the past 30 years. I could not afford my law school at what it charges for tuition now.

Ret_25X

An army doctor turned me into a newt!

Well…I got better…