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OPINION
The Legal Reason Biden's Dog Commander Keeps Biting People With Impunity | Opinion
Once again, President Biden's two-year-old German Shepherd Commander has reportedly bitten someone, this time a Secret Service Uniformed Division police officer who was working at the White House. This week's biting incident marks Commander's 11th just this year.
U.S. law holds dog owners liable for biting, and a few states, including California, sometimes force euthanasia on canine repeat offenders. Could Commander's owner, the President of the United States, be sued? Could Commander—should Commander—be euthanized?
But Joe and Jill Biden are not regular citizens. They are the President and the First Lady. The former is the head of the executive branch of the federal government. And when someone sues a federal employee for something that happens on the job, the employee is usually completely immune from personal liability under a federal law called the "Westfall Act." Now, in order to claim this immunity, the employee must first prove that he is a government official covered by the Westfall Act and then prove that the lawsuit is based on conduct within the scope of his employment.
According to the White House, historically, presidential dogs have "humaniz[ed] the president's political image." Sometimes a dog is a piece of international diplomacy. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev gave First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy a dog named Pushinka. At times, the presidential dog has even performed official functions. President Warren Harding's dog Laddie "greeted official delegations and hosted the 1923 White House Easter Egg Roll when the Hardings were away."
Believe it or not, there is precedent here: People have sued the United States for being bitten by government dogs before. There was an incident in 2020 at a Secret Service security checkpoint at President Trump's Trump Tower. While sniffing a truck to detect explosives, a military dog named Rosso bit a tourist riding a rental bike past the checkpoint. The tourist sued. She lost, because the FTCA barred her case.
In one D.C. case, a parent sued the TSA for negligently training a dog that allegedly bit her child. The court held that training a dog was a "discretionary function," and therefore the TSA was immune under the FTCA.
Still, there may be justice to be had for Commander's victims, albeit a very "eye for an eye" version. In D.C., the Mayor is responsible for investigating and ultimately determining whether a dog is dangerous. D.C. law expressly authorizes the Mayor to "humanely destroy a dog if... the dog [will] be a threat to public safety if it is returned to the owner."
When it comes to Commander, Mayor Muriel Bowser could be his judge, jury, and executioner. Will Commander's alleged 11 bites warrant opening an investigation? Will Bowser deem Commander guilty of threatening public safety and sentence him to "Capitol" punishment? And if so, will that lead to a standoff between D.C. Police and Commander's Secret Service detail?
The Legal Reason Biden's Dog Commander Keeps Biting People With Impunity
If Commander is deemed relevant to official presidential business, then the Westfall Act would substitute the United States for the employee.
www.newsweek.com
