U.S. appeals court dismissed a lawsuit filed by kidnapping survivor Jaycee Dugard against the federal government for failing to put her abductor behind bars.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Dugard’s lawsuit that claims she would not have suffered 18 dreadful years in the hands of her abductor, Phillip Garrido, had parole authorities done their jobs and locked him up before the time she was kidnapped.
Jaycee Dugard can’t sue government for failing to lock up her parole-breaking abductor https://t.co/yz4gFvQUb8 pic.twitter.com/mGm6It5yzN
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) March 17, 2016
With 2-1 votes the Court of Appeals said Dugard cannot sue the federal government because she was not a “specifically identifiable victim” and Garrido was not under federal parole during the kidnapping.
Jaycee Dugard, in her lawsuit alleged that had authorities responsible in the monitoring watched Phillip closely, they would have withdrawn his parole and put him in prison for repeatedly violating his probation.
However, Chief District Court Judge William Smith disagreed with the court’s decision and stated in his 29-page dissent said the parole officers’ failure to monitor her abductor was a good reason to hold the government liable.
JayceeDugard, was abducted at age 11 by Philip and Nancy Garrido on June 10, 1991 while she was on her way to a school bus stop in Lake Tahoe. She was held hostage in a backyard shed and repeatedly raped by Phillip. Dugard gave birth to two daughters when she was 14 and 17. The older daughter is reportedly a plaintiff in her lawsuit.
She and her two daughters were discovered and rescued in 2009. The Garrido couple pleaded guilty in El Dorado Couty Superior Court in 2011 to rape and kidnapping charges.
Jaycee Dugard: How She Got Kidnapped
Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years in prison while his wife and accomplice, Nancy Garrido, will face 36 years to life.
Dugard and her children received a $20 million settlement in 2010 after investigators determined that state officers had failed in their duty to supervise Garrido.
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