Daily Montanan
In Montana, if a citizen is sexually assaulted by a state, county or municipal law enforcement officer, the victim can sue the agency for which the officer works. But in Montana, it’s unclear whether that same principle applies to a federal law enforcement agent because the officer is a federal employee.
That’s the central question the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has sent back to the Montana State Supreme Court to decide.
While the case law and briefings in the legal dispute run hundreds of pages long, the question isn’t hypothetical – it’s one arising out of a case in which an on-duty Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officer sexually assaulted a Northern Cheyenne tribal member, got her pregnant and then has not supported the child, according to court filings. While former agent Dana Bullcoming was found liable for support in a civil court, the victim in the case has tried to sue the BIA because Bullcoming was on duty at the time of the assault and used his position to coerce the woman into having sex by threatening to take her children, according to court records.
Montana state law says that citizens have the right to sue agencies where an on-duty officer has acted illegally, but because the agent worked for the federal government, the appeals court has asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether it’s allowable for the woman to sue the federal government for Bullcoming’s actions.
The incident took place in Lame...
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