Swartz v. Rodriguez
Petition for a writ of certiorari granted,
judgment vacated and case remanded to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit for further
consideration in light of Hernandez v. Mesa, on March 2, 2020
Issues: (1) Whether the panel’s decision to create an implied remedy for damages under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in the new context of a cross-border shooting misapplies Supreme Court precedent and violates separation-of-powers principles, when foreign relations, border security and the extraterritorial application of the Fourth Amendment are some of the special factors that counsel hesitation against such an extension; and (2) whether, if the above “antecedent” question is answered in the negative, Agent Swartz is entitled to qualified immunity because there is no clearly established law applying the Fourth Amendment to protect a Mexican citizen, with no significant connection to the United States, who is injured in Mexico by a federal agent’s cross-border shooting. CVSG: 04/11/2019.
