By: Derek Hawkins//July 5, 2017//
United States Supreme Court
Case Name: JESUS C. HERNANDEZ, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. JESUS MESA, JR., ET AL.
Case No.: 15-118
Focus: Fourth Amendment violation
The Court of Appeals, affirming the District Court, held (among other things) that Hernández had no Fourth Amendment rights because he was not a citizen of the United States, he was “on Mexican soil at the time he was shot,” and he “had no ‘significant voluntary connection’ to the United States.
Hernandez v. United States, 785 F. 3d 117, 119 (2015) (per curiam) (quoting United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U. S. 259, 271 (1990)). I would reverse the Court of Appeals’ Fourth Amendment holding. And, in my view, that reversal would ordinarily bring with it the right to bring an action for damages under Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U. S. 388 (1971). See Wood v. Moss, 572 U. S. ___, ___ (2014) (slip op., at 11) (Bivens actions lie for Fourth Amendment violations); Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U. S. 1, 11 (1985) (officer’s application of lethal force when there is no immediate threat to self or others violates the Fourth Amendment).
Vacated and remanded
Dissenting: Breyer, Ginsburg
Concurring: