Nora Freeman Engstrom & Malka Herman have posted to SSRN From State Tort to Federal Liability: An FTCA Field Guide for Minnesota Practitioners. The abstract provides:
This Practitioners’ Guide offers a practical roadmap for Minnesota attorneys seeking to bring claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act for actions arising from immigration-enforcement activity. Because the FTCA permits suit against the United States only where a private person would be liable under applicable state tort law, the Guide translates federal officer misconduct into potential Minnesota tort analogues, including assault, battery, false imprisonment, negligent supervision, conversion, trespass, and nuisance. It also identifies the principal obstacles likely to arise, including scope-of-employment requirements, the intentional-tort exception, the discretionary-function exception, the detention-of-goods exception, and Minnesota official-immunity doctrine. Finally, the Guide walks through the mechanics of FTCA litigation-from administrative presentment and pleading through discovery, trial, and damages—and applies those principles to recurring fact patterns involving immigration officers. The result is a resource designed to help practitioners assess claim viability, anticipate defenses, and craft litigation strategies in a complex and highly fact-dependent area of federal liability.