Jesus C. Hernandez v. Jesus Mesa, Jr.

Summary

The Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Alito, held that Bivens does not supply a damages remedy for a cross-border shooting: the claim arises in a new context, and multiple special factors—the incident's foreign-relations implications, its national-security dimensions, and Congress's consistent refusal to authorize damages for injuries inflicted abroad—counsel hesitation, all reducible to separation-of-powers concerns. The Court affirmed the en banc Fifth Circuit's dismissal of Hernández's parents' Fourth and Fifth Amendment damages suit against Border Patrol Agent Mesa. Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Gorsuch, concurred separately to urge abandoning the Bivens doctrine altogether, while Justice Ginsburg, joined by Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, dissented, arguing the case fell within the familiar Bivens setting of a rogue officer's unconstitutional use of force.