Reed v. United States Department of the Interior

The full case caption appears at the end of this opinion.

Plaintiff-appellant Daniel Reed was severely injured in the early morning hours of September 2, 1996, when a car ran over the tent in which he was sleeping. At thetime of the accident, Reed was attending an event known as the Burning Man Festival, which was held on the desolate Black Rock Desert playa[FOOTNOTE 2] inNevada. The playa is federally owned land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM” ). Reed filed suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. �� 2679-2680 (“FTCA” ), against the United States to recover damages for his injuries. The United States moved for summary judgment, asserting that the suit wasbarred by the discretionary function exception to the FTCA, 28 U.S.C. � 2680(a). The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the United States, rulingthat all the allegedly negligent conduct of the government was shielded by the discretionary function exception of the FTCA, leaving the court without subject matterjurisdiction. Reed appeals. We review de novo. Miller v. United States, 163 F.3d 591, 593 (9th Cir. 1998).