You’ve Got Mail, But Not Jurisdiction: The Federal Tort Claims Act and the Mailbox Rule

Abstract

The Federal Tort Claims Act provides private individuals with limited rights of action against the United States government if plaintiff-claimants meet certain jurisdictional requirements. Specifically, 28 U.S.C. § 2675(a) requires that plaintiff-claimants present claims to responsible federal agencies before filing suit in federal court. On March 7, 2019, in Cooke v. United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, joining a majority of circuits to have considered the question, refused to apply the mailbox rule to the presentment requirement in section 2675(a). This Comment argues that the Second Circuit’s ruling in Cooke is correct because the doctrine of sovereign immunity requires a strict construction that precludes applying the mailbox rule to section 2675(a)’s presentment requirement.