The Discretionary Function Exception in the Second Circuit

Abstract

In a society governed by the rule of law, what is the responsibility of a government to rectify its own errors when those errors injure its citizens? In the Anglo-American legal tradition, this question has been debated at least since the Magna Carta, and it remains a vexed one. The answer to this question is especially elusive with respect to governmentinflicted personal injuries remediable only with money damages, a form of liability rule that has always been subject to broad areas of immunity for government, for its officials, and for both. In the United States, federal and state laws have waived many of these immunities.