Sobitan v. Glud, No. 07-3119

In plaintiff's suit against a customs officer for arresting him for illegal reentry into the U.S. and against the Assistant United States Attorney who prosecuted the case, grant of the government's motion for substitution and dismissal under the Federal Employees Liability Reform and Tort Compensation Act (Westfall Act) is affirmed where: 1) the district court correctly substituted the U.S. as defendant, as plaintiff's claim for relief for violation of his rights under the Vienna Convention does not fall within an exception to the Westfall Act's substitution provision; and 2) the district court properly dismissed plaintiff's claim as the source of his claims is not state tort law, but international treaty and as such, does not fall within the United States' waiver of its sovereign immunity in section 1346(b). 

Read Sobitan v. Glud, No. 07-3119

Appellate Information

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division

Decided December 9, 2009

Judges

Before:  Ripple, Manion, and Tinder, Circuit Judges

Opinion by Ripple, Circuit Judge