William Marinese v. United States

MEMORANDUM

After William Marinese was injured while delivering mail in Craig, Alaska, Marinese and several of his family members sued the United States Postal Service (USPS) for negligence under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). They appeal from the district court’s order granting the USPS’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), and its discretionary denial of Marinese’s motion to certify three questions to the Alaska Supreme Court. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

“As a sovereign, the United States is immune from suit except to the extent that it has unequivocally consented to litigation against itself.” LaBarge v. Cnty. of Mariposa, 798 F.2d 364 , 366 (9th Cir.1986). The FTCA provides a limited waiver of the government’s sovereign immunity. Id. Under the FTCA: “The United States shall be liable ... in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances.” 28 U.S.C. § 2674 . The FTCA requires us “to analogize the government to a private actor in a similar situation and apply state law to determine amenability to suit.” LaBarge, 798 F.2d at 366. We…