Summary
U.S. Supreme Court case involving a lawsuit arising from the cross-border shooting of a Mexican citizen by a U.S. Border Patrol Agent. The family of Sergio Hern’ndez, a juvenile with no ties to the U.S. who was likely participating in an illegal alien smuggling operation, seek to force an agent of the Border Patrol into litigation over an incident that had already been investigated by the Department of Justice and found to be a use of force consistent with the policy and training of his agency. Congress has not created a remedy for cross-border shootings by federal officials. The question before the Court is whether it should invent a remedy where Congress has not. In 2017, CJLF filed a brief in this case (No. 15-118) arguing that the judicial branch should not step in, but rather should leave the matter to Congress. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to decide the issue under new precedent (Ziglar v. Abbasi, No. 15-1358) that was decided earlier in the term. On remand, the Fifth Circuit refused to fashion a new remedy and affirmed the District Court's dismissal of all claims against the Border Patrol agent. CJLF joined the case again to argue that Congress, not the judiciary, is the proper branch to decide if noncitizens can recover for torts committed by federal law enforcement officers causing damage in a foreign country. The Supreme Court agreed and affirmed.
