Task: songer_standing

What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals. You will be asked a question pertaining to some threshold issue at the trial court level. These issues are only considered to be present if the court of appeals is reviewing whether or not the litigants should properly have been allowed to get a trial court decision on the merits. That is, the issue is whether or not the issue crossed properly the threshhold to get on the district court agenda. The issue is: "Did the court determine that the parties had standing?" Answer the question based on the directionality of the appeals court decision. If the court discussed the issue in its opinion and answered the related question in the affirmative, answer "Yes". If the issue was discussed and the opinion answered the question negatively, answer "No". If the opinion considered the question but gave a mixed answer, supporting the respondent in part and supporting the appellant in part, answer "Mixed answer". If the opinion does not discuss the issue, or notes that a particular issue was raised by one of the litigants but the court dismissed the issue as frivolous or trivial or not worthy of discussion for some other reason, answer "Issue not discussed". If the opinion considered the question but gave a "mixed" answer, supporting the respondent in part and supporting the appellant in part (or if two issues treated separately by the court both fell within the area covered by one question and the court answered one question affirmatively and one negatively), answer "Mixed answer". If the opinion either did not consider or discuss the issue at all or if the opinion indicates that this issue was not worthy of consideration by the court of appeals even though it was discussed by the lower court or was raised in one of the briefs, answer "Issue not discussed".

PER CURIAM:
Eleanore J. Evans appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Herlands, J., which dismissed her complaint against a United States Veterans Administration Hospital. The Court below correctly determined that the Hospital was immune from suit since it is well established that a Veterans Administration Hospital, as an instrumentality of the Veterans Administration, cannot be sued in its own name. Fermin v. Veterans Administration, 312 F.2d 554 (9th Cir.), cert. denied 375 U.S. 864, 84 S.Ct. 135, 11 L.Ed.2d 91 (1963); Suess v. Pugh, 245 F.Supp. 661 (N.D.W.Va.1965); Napier v. Veterans Administration, 187 F.Supp. 723 (D.N.J.1960), aff’d 298 F.2d 445 (3rd Cir. 1962), cert. denied 371 U.S. 186, 83 S.Ct. 266, 9 L.Ed.2d 228 (1962). Furthermore, plaintiff is foreclosed from amending her complaint to add the United States as a party and thereafter proceeding under the Federal Tort Claims Act, since the two year period of limitations under the federal statute has already run. 28 U.S.C. Section 2401. Finally, Rule 15(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which allows a claimant to amend a complaint to add a party and still have the amendment relate back to the date of the original pleading, is inapplicable here. In the instant case no notice of the pendency of the claim was given to the United States within the limitations period of the Federal Tort Claims Act.
Affirmed.
. Rule 15. Amended and Supplemental Pleadings
* * * * *
(c) Relation Baelc of Amendments * * * An amendment changing the party against whom a claim is asserted relates back if * * * within the period provided by law for commencing the action against him, the party to be brought in by amendment (1) has received such notice of the institution of the action that he will not be prejudiced and (2) knew or should have known that, but for a mistake concerning the identity of the proper party, the action would have been brought against him.
. The original complaint filed in the District Court on June 14, 1963 was not delivered by the plaintiff to the United States Marshal for service until February 1, 1967.

Question: Did the court determine that the parties had standing?
A. No
B. Yes
C. Mixed answer
D. Issue not discussed
Answer:

Answer: D