Indian Towing Co. v. United States
United States Supreme Court
350 U.S. 61 (1955)
- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
Indian Towing Co. owned a tug that was towing a barge when the tug went aground on Chandeleur Island. The barge had been loaded with a chemical cargo, which was damaged by seawater during the grounding. The United States Coast Guard maintained a lighthouse light on Chandeleur Island, but it was apparently not lit at the time of the accident. Indian Towing, along with other parties with interests in the barge’s cargo (plaintiffs), sued the United States (defendant) under the Federal Tort Claims Act for damages arising from the loss of the cargo, alleging that grounding was solely caused by the failure of the lighthouse light on the island, which was the result of the Coast Guard’s negligence. The district court dismissed the action without issuing an opinion, and the court of appeals affirmed the dismissal. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari. The United States maintained before the Court that the Federal Tort Claims Act excluded liability for the performance of activities for uniquely governmental functions and that the operation of lighthouses fell within this exclusion.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Frankfurter, J.)
Dissent (Reed, J.)
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