Page:United States Reports, Volume 542.djvu/731

692 No. 03–339.

Held:

1. The FTCA's exception to waiver of sovereign immunity for claims "arising in a foreign country," 28 U.S.C. § 2680(k), bars claims based on any injury suffered in a foreign country, regardless of where the tortious act or omission occurred. Pp. 699–712.

(a) The exception on its face seems plainly applicable to the facts of this action. Alvarez's arrest was said to be "false," and thus tortious, only because, and only to the extent that, it took place and endured in Mexico. Nonetheless, the Ninth Circuit allowed the action to proceed under what is known as the "headquarters doctrine," concluding that, because Alvarez's abduction was the direct result of wrongful planning and direction by DEA agents in California, his claim did not "aris[e] in" a foreign country. Because it will virtually always be possible to assert negligent activity occurring in the United States, such analysis must be viewed with skepticism. Two considerations confirm this Court's skepticism and lead it to reject the headquarters doctrine. Pp. 700–703.