John B. Witt v. United States of America

FEINBERG, Circuit Judge:

This appeal by John B. Witt is taken from a judgment in favor of the United States in an action brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671 et seq. For reasons set forth below, we reverse.

In 1965, appellant Witt was a military prisoner assigned to the Parolee Unit at the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. 1 On the morning of November 21 of that year, Witt and three other prisoners “volunteered” for a prison work detail shoveling manure at the stables of the Fort Leavenworth Hunt Club. The Hunt Club, which had…