Overview
- On November 24, the Supreme Court refused to hear Kari Beck’s wrongful-death appeal, leaving the lower-court ruling against her in place.
- Justice Clarence Thomas dissented from the denial, arguing the judge-made Feres doctrine lacks grounding in the FTCA and should be overruled or at least narrowed.
- Thomas said Staff Sgt. Cameron Beck’s off-duty death while riding home for lunch was not incident to military service and should not be barred.
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor called Feres a difficult decision to justify and wrote that Congress should address the problem, while Justice Neil Gorsuch indicated he would have granted review.
- Beck was killed in 2021 near Whiteman Air Force Base when a civilian federal employee in a government van turned in front of his motorcycle; the driver later pleaded guilty, and courts dismissed the suit under Feres, which generally blocks claims for injuries tied to military service.