Arnulfo Chapa filled two boxes with his personal belongings and brought them into prison, where they remained under the care of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) during his detention as a federal prison inmate. When the BOP transferred Mr. Chapa from the La Tuna Federal Correctional Institute in Texas to a federal prison camp in Louisiana, the BOP was responsible for ensuring the safety of his belongings during the transfer. The BOP claimed that it had taped the two boxes together and shipped them in this condition. However, when Mr. Chapa contacted the shipping company, he was informed that only one of his two boxes of personal belongings had been shipped by the BOP. Mr. Chapa subsequently brought suit against the Department of Justice under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA)6 for the BOP’s negligent
handling of his personal belongings, which resulted in the loss of one of the two boxes that he had placed in the BOP’s care. Although the FTCA was likely the only means of recovery available to Mr. Chapa, he was barred from recourse under the FTCA. Like most federal courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that BOP officials are immune from liability under the FTCA’s detention of property provision. This conclusion, however, is erroneous and, in the Author’s opinion, derives from an improper construction of the FTCA.