Why can’t members of the military sue the government for their injuries?
Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Professor Andrew Popper, of American University, Washington College of Law, to discuss democracy, the notion of “sovereign immunity,” and the way in which basic civil liberties are being denied to our country’s military service members.
In today’s episode, Aaron and Andy are talking about what is known as the Feres Doctrine. Stemming from a 1950 Supreme Court decision, the Feres Doctrine significantly limits the civil rights of U.S. military members and their abilities to pursue justice as average citizens otherwise could. Andy and Aaron explain the ins and outs of the case while also explaining how and why this law came to be. Andy illustrates his recommendation for overturning the law, providing examples of instances in which Feres has caused extreme suffering, frustration and unfairness. Throughout today’s conversation, Aaron and Andy talk about the effectiveness of our military, the fear of undermining authority, chain-of-command, agent orange, Camp Lejeune, judicial activism and more.
A veteran himself, Professor Popper is the Bronfman Distinguished Professor of Law and Government, teaching torts, administrative law, government litigation, and advanced administrative law. Andy is the recipient of American Bar Association awards for excellence in both tort and administrative law and has received American University’s highest faculty award, Scholar/Teacher of the year. He has served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and for nearly two decades has chaired the law school admissions committee.
In addition to his other works, Andy is also a successful fiction writer, having been the recipient of the Maryland Writer’s Association First Place Award for mainstream fiction. He has served as a consumer rights advocate and pro bono counsel for the Consumers Union of America, testified before more than 40 states and federal congressional committees, and authored amicus curiae briefs before the United States Supreme Court. Prior to coming to the Washington College of Law, he held an endowed chair at the University of Denver, School of Law, and before that practiced law in Washington, D.C.
To learn more about Professor Popper, please visit his bio page here.
To read Professor Popper’s article, “Rethinking Feres: Granting Access to Justice for Service Members,” please click here.
To learn more about Feres v. United States, please click here.
To explore the collection of Professor Popper’s literary works, please visit his Amazon page here.
Host: Aaron Freiwald
Guest: Andrew Popper
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