Federal law enforcement agencies liable when officers commit sexual violence
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News from the ACLU of Montana
HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court ruled in L.B. vs United States that Federal law enforcement agencies may be held liable when officers commit sexual violence on the job. This ruling comes in a case involving a federal officer who sexually assaulted a Native American woman. After she sued the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the actions of the federal officer, the courts grappled with the question of whether the sexual assault was within the officer’s scope of employment. The Montana Supreme Court ruled definitively that federal agencies are not shielded from liability – or immune from paying damages – for such conduct. In so holding, the court credited the arguments presented in “friend of the court” briefs that “there is systemic misconduct within the BIA and violence against Native American women on reservations.”
“It’s a great day for Native women in Montana,” said April Youpee-Roll, counsel for amici and enrolled member of the Fort Peck Sioux Tribe. “Today the Montana Supreme Court closed the gap and provided us the same remedy for on-duty sexual assault by law enforcement as Montana law already afforded our neighbors.”
In 2021, the ACLU of Montana, the American Civil Liberties Union and Kramer Levinfiled an amicus brief in support of the plaintiff-appellant in L.B. v. United States. The brief argued that L.B. should be allowed to sue the federal government because, among other reasons, every step that the officer took to coerce L.B. involved and was predicated upon the exercise of a law enforcement function, including invoking his power of arrest.
“This is a step toward accountability and justice for Indigenous women in Montana, who are not only disproportionately impacted by violence, but also are a population more likely to be impacted by federal officers,” said Sharen Kickingwoman, Indigenous Justice Program Manager with the ACLU of Montana. “I’m thankful for the courage and bravery of the survivor to seek justice and fight for this fix, so no other Indigenous woman has to face this battle.”
