Court Rejects Jaycee Dugard's Suit Against Feds

A US appeals court has dismissed Jaycee Dugard's lawsuit alleging the federal government failed to properly monitor her captor while he was on parole before her abduction. Phillip Garrido was on parole for kidnapping and forcible rape when he and his wife, Nancy, abducted 11-year-old Dugard in 1991 and held her captive for 18 years, reports the AP. In a 2-1 decision, the court found parole officials did their jobs since it was impossible to know that Dugard would eventually become Garrido's victim. The ruling upheld a lower court decision in 2013 to dismiss the case.

Dugard argued parole officials failed to properly supervise Garrido—later sentenced to 431 years to life—and should have revoked his parole for violations including drug use. If that had been the case, Dugard said she would never have been abducted. Judges Richard Clifton and John Owens said "parole officials can be sued for failing to carry out their duties only by people who were identifiable victims at the time of the alleged failure," reports Bay City News. Judge William Smith said the government should be liable for foreseeable victims. It isn't clear if Dugard will appeal again. (She's now writing a second memoir.)