United States v. O'Keefe
Supreme Court of the United States
Appeal from the Court of Claims; the case being thus: By act of Congress of 1855,* establishing the Court of Claims, persons are authorized to sue the United States.
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Appeal from the Court of Claims; the case being thus: By act of Congress of 1855,* establishing the Court of Claims, persons are authorized to sue the United States. The words of the enactment are: “And the said court shall hear and determine all claims founded upon any law of Congress, or upon any regulation of an executive department, or upon any contract, .express or implied, with the government of the United States, which may be suggested to it by a petition filed therein.” When the court gives judgment for the claimant, the judgment is paid- by the Secretary of the Treasury as of course,…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Davis
It is insisted that Great Britain does not accord to our citizens the right to prosecute claims against her government in her courts, because the mode of proceeding in that country for the recovery of claims against the government depends on the will of the Crown, while with us the right is absolute.
It is a familiar principle that all governments possess an immunity from suit, and it is only in a spirit of liberality, and to promote the ends of justice, that they ever allow themselves to be brought into court. If the privilege be granted at all, necessarily the regulations concerning it and…
2Cited by24 opinions
- United States v. LeeSupreme Court of the United States · 1882
- National City Bank of NY v. Republic of ChinaSupreme Court of the United States · 1955
- Phelps v. McDonaldSupreme Court of the United States · 1879
- Teresa Alen Ferreiro, Dorothy Erasmo Jeffers, and Mario Vazquez Lopez v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit · 2003
- Young v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1878
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