A-Mark, Inc. v. United States Secret Service Department of the Treasury

I concur in the result. The majority, following the reasoning of Alliance Assurance Co. v. United States, 252 F.2d 529 (2nd Cir. 1958), holds that 28 U.S.C. § 2680(c) excludes only damages arising from the fact of detention itself, not damages due to negligent handling during detention. In my view, a better rationale is to read § 2680(c) as covering only those detentions which occur within the context of customs and tax activities. The governmental function of assessing and collecting customs duties necessarily requires some period of detention when the imported item is in*851speeted for purposes…