Cestonaro v. United States
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
211 F.3d 749 (2000)
Daniele Cestonaro was shot and killed in an unlit parking area within a National Park Service (NPS) historic site in the Virgin Islands. His wife, Giovana Cestonaro (plaintiff), sued the United States (defendant) under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging the NPS negligently failed to provide adequate lighting, signage, or warnings despite knowing the lot — used by the public informally since the 1940s — had a history of crime. The NPS had installed some lighting but no warning signs. The district court dismissed the suit, finding the discretionary-function exception to the FTCA's waiver of sovereign immunity applied, and Cestonaro appealed.
Whether the United States may be sued for a federal agency's performance of a discretionary function or duty when that conduct is not grounded in the agency's social, economic, or political goals.