The discretionary-function exception replaced activity-specific carve-outs in 1942 tort bills

Evidence

Earlier tort claims bills considered by Congress contained reservations from the abdication of sovereign immunity. Prior to 1942 these exceptions were couched in terms of specific spheres of federal activity, suah as postal service, the activities of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the collection of taxes. In 1942, however, the Seventy-seventh Congress drafted a twofold elimination of claims based on the execution of a regulation or statute or on the exercise of a discretionary function. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 2056

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the standards-vs-rules drafting discussion in Volumes 1-2 and ch6’s timing-standards/scope-rules point. — connects to: Congress passed the Federal Tort Claims Act to replace private bills with court access — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 2051; The word wrongful in the FTCA does not import strict liability, only trespass — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 2095; Industrial calamities forced the creation of genuinely new tort law — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1783

Broader Connections

• Industrial calamities forced the creation of genuinely new tort law #expands (0.72) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1783