Latest news with #FourthAmendment
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Supreme Court rejects inmate's plea for damages over excessive force claims
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a Virginia inmate cannot sue prison officials for damages over claims they used excessive force in breach of his 8th Amendment rights. It's the justices' latest rejection of so-called Bivens claims, which let people sue federal officials in their individual capacity for monetary damages over constitutional rights violations. 'For the past 45 years, this Court has consistently declined to extend Bivens to new contexts,' the justices wrote in an unsigned opinion. 'We do the same here.' The justices sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit for further proceedings, turning down a chance to confront the court's 1971 decision in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents. The case established an implied right to seek a remedy for constitutional violations against individual federal officers despite no law authorizing such a suit, and the high court has repeatedly signaled interest in overturning it. The appeal to the justices came from prison officials facing personal liability in a series of violent assaults alleged by a Virginia inmate. The inmate, Andrew Fields, claimed several officers repeatedly 'kicked and punched' him, including with steel-toed boots, and 'rammed' his head with a police shield and into a wall. He said he was then denied access to the prison's administrative remedy program. Fields sued the individual officers in 2022 but a district court dismissed his claims, finding no Bivens remedy for excessive force. However, a split U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed that decision, finding the 'rare' situation — the severe abuse and intentional denial of administrative relief — warranted Bivens relief. The officers asked the court to consider whether Bivens action extends to excessive force claims under the Eighth Amendment but also asked them to 'reconsider the premise' of Bivens altogether. The case could have acted as a vehicle to overturn the precedent. 'The importance of this ruling is indisputable,' the officers wrote in their petition to the court. The court's 1971 decision let a Brooklyn man seek damages against individual federal narcotics agents for violating his Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Over the next decade, the court extended Bivens actions to employment-discrimination claims under the Fifth Amendment and cruel and unusual punishment claims alleging inadequate medical care in prison under the Eighth Amendment. However, since 1983, the court has jettisoned Bivens claims, declining to extend the remedy to other alleged constitutional violations and instead suggesting Congress should make such decisions. Most recently, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a majority opinion that the claims aren't valid 'in all but the most unusual circumstances.' 'The Court's unwillingness to infer new Bivens claims accords with its broader repudiation of the whole project of judicially inferring causes of action that Congress did not create,' the officers' petition reads. The solicitor general's office asked the court to summarily reverse the lower court. In recent months, several prominent Bivens claims have been filed against federal officials. Five Proud Boys leaders convicted over the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack sued the Justice Department and individual FBI agents for $100 million over their prosecution earlier this month. Three of their claims are Bivens actions. Before that, Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka (D) sued interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba personally over his arrest last month outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Supreme Court Rebuffs Bid to Protect Coinbase User Data From IRS
The US Supreme Court refused to question an Internal Revenue Service summons that forced Coinbase Global Inc. to turn over transaction information for more than 14,000 cryptocurrency customers. The justices without explanation rejected an appeal from an account holder who said the IRS violated his rights under the Constitution's Fourth Amendment.
Chicago Tribune
4 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Faith leaders: We cannot be silent about what is happening in America
'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.' These words, which fill a popular meme set against the profile of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., occupy our thoughts. We fear that day is arriving on American shores along with nothing short of an onslaught against our basic human rights. While the boldest headlines tell how people are literally snatched off the streets, are being disappeared to foreign prisons, news that often receives less attention reveals that our civil liberties are also being snatched up, one by one. In Selma, Alabama, a day after Bloody Sunday in 1965, a brutal assault by local law enforcement on nonviolent marchers, King spoke about the need to raise our voices: 'Deep down in our nonviolent creed is the conviction there are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they're worth dying for.' There are so very many precious things under attack in this American moment; consider the bronze bust of King that the president recently had removed from the Oval Office. Eerily reminiscent of that time 60 years ago, many of these attacks are being coordinated by those in charge of the purported enforcement of the law. As much as this is a time of existential concern, it is also a great — and we believe mandatory — opportunity to stand up for that which is right. But first, we must understand the severity of all that is wrong. To begin with, the very due process of law is under attack. We are witnessing expedited deportations — including those of children who are U.S. citizens — along with the intentional bypassing of immigration courts paired with limiting access to legal counsel. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are unlawfully detaining citizens, notably including California U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla. Chicago police officers have reportedly aided ICE officers, in violation of Chicago statute, a move that is prompting further investigation. Furthermore, ICE agents are widely wearing masks and refusing to identify themselves, a likely violation of our Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure. Violations of habeas corpus aside — that's how this administration functions, it seems — the rule of law in general is under attack. The attacks on law firms and lawyers, even as Chicago's own Jenner & Block bravely resists, has nonetheless led to other firms with major offices in our city simply capitulating out of avarice or cowardice. Such 'comply in advance' legal actions line up in complicity with an administration that is disregarding court orders, threatening the impeachment of judges, and eroding the checks and balances of an independent judiciary. Our fundamental freedom of speech is also experiencing sustained assault. Travelers' social media feeds are subject to inspection at the border, and students coming the U.S. to study are having their feeds examined for ominous (and vague) 'indications of hostility.' Protesters in Los Angeles — who overwhelmingly were demonstrating peacefully — compelled the federal administration to deploy the National Guard against the advice of the governor and then mobilized the Marines to police citizens. Furthermore, there is a sustained effort to undermine the freedom of the press by targeting journalists, suing media outlets, pulling funding and even politicizing the White House press pool. LGBTQ+ rights are under assault, and Black and Latino communities — along with other minorities — are being further marginalized through sustained attacks on education inclusion, all in the land of 'e pluribus unum.' Given this state of affairs, it should not be surprising that objective measurements of freedom and democracy in the United States have eroded since January. Three months ago, the United States was added to the Civicus Monitor watchlist, which identifies countries that the global watchdog believes are experiencing a rapid decline in civic freedoms. We are not deluded: What we see is what is happening. And listing this doesn't capture the sheer violation of humanity: ripping babies away from their mothers, damaging trans kids by denying them access to medical care, and abetting food apartheid by working to eliminate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. That is why we cannot be silent. These things — human rights, civil liberties, basic human dignity — matter. In preparing this essay, we learned that King never precisely said: 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.' Although that was his message, his actual words are even more profound and challenging: 'A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true. 'So we're going to stand up amid horses. We're going to stand up right here in Alabama, amid the billy clubs. We're going to stand up right here in Alabama amid police dogs, if they have them. We're going to stand up amid tear gas! We're going to stand up amid anything they can muster up, letting the world know that we are determined to be free!' So should we stand up, amid ICE agents and Marines. Committed to nonviolence, dedicated to the proposition that we must love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we're going to stand up right here in Chicago, amid even billy clubs and dogs and tear gas. We are going to stand up amid anything they can muster, letting the world know we are determined to be free. Join us. Chicago faith leaders Rabbi Seth Limmer, the Rev. Otis Moss III, the Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain and the Rev. Michael Pfleger joined the Tribune's opinion section in summer 2022 for a series of columns on potential solutions to Chicago's chronic gun violence problem. The column continues on an occasional basis.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
First challenge to courthouse arrest: Family with ailing child fights US Immigration detention; lawsuit alleges rights violations
Represented image (AP) In a first of its kind lawsuit involving children, a Honduran mother and her two young children have sued the US government over their arrest outside a Texas courthouse, alleging violations of constitutional rights. The family, who legally entered the US using the CBP One app, is detained at the Dilley immigration processing center and is fighting for release, according to the news agency AP. Filed in Texas, the lawsuit argues that their arrest violated the Fourth Amendment's protection against unlawful searches and seizures and the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of due process. According to their legal team, led by Columbia Law School professor Elora Mukherjee, the family complied fully with immigration procedures before being taken into custody. The mother and her children fled Honduras in October 2024 following death threats. After being paroled into the US by the department of homeland security, they were scheduled to appear before an immigration court in Los Angeles on May 29. But immediately after the judge dismissed their case, ICE agents allegedly arrested them outside the courtroom, placing them in expedited removal, a fast-track deportation process. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like "Nature's Morphine" May Help Relieve Pain, Brain Fog and Inflammation. Manna Undo Their lawyers argue the arrest was traumatic, especially for the 6-year-old boy, a leukemia patient who missed a vital check-up due to the detention. "He's pale, bruising, and suffering bone pain,' Mukherjee said, adding that the boy urinated on himself in fear after an officer exposed a firearm. Though their appeal is pending, the family could be deported any day. Advocates say the case highlights growing concerns about the Trump administration's continuation of aggressive immigration enforcement, particularly at courthouses. "This family followed every rule," said attorney Kate Gibson Kumar of the Texas civil rights project. 'With young children involved, there must be protections.' The department of homeland security has not commented. The government has until July 1 to respond to the lawsuit.
Chicago Tribune
5 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Family sues over US detention in what may be first challenge to courthouse arrests involving kids
A mother and her two young kids are fighting for their release from a Texas immigration detention center in what is believed to be the first lawsuit involving children challenging the Trump administration's policy on immigrant arrests at courthouses. The lawsuit filed Tuesday argues that the family's arrests after fleeing Honduras and entering the U.S. legally using a Biden-era appointment app violate their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizure and their Fifth Amendment right to due process. 'The big picture is that the executive branch cannot seize people, arrest people, detain people indefinitely when they are complying with exactly what our government has required of them,' said Columbia Law School professor Elora Mukherjee, one of the lawyers representing the family. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. Starting in May, the country has seen large-scale arrests in which asylum-seekers appearing at routine court hearings have been arrested outside courtrooms as part of the White House's mass deportation effort. In many cases, a judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings and then U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will arrest the person and place them on 'expedited removal,' a fast track to deportation. Mukherjee said this is the first lawsuit filed on behalf of children to challenge the ICE courthouse arrest policy. The government has until July 1 to respond. There have been other similar lawsuits, including in New York, where a federal judge ruled earlier this month that federal immigration authorities can't make civil arrests at the state's courthouses or arrest anyone going there for a proceeding. The Texas lawsuit was filed using initials for the children and 'Ms. Z' for the mother. Their identities have not been released because of concerns for their safety. For weeks in the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the mother has watched her 6-year-old son's health decline, Mukherjee said. He recently underwent chemotherapy treatment for leukemia and because of his arrest missed his check-in doctor's appointment, Mukherjee said. 'He's easily bruising. He has bone pain. He looks pale,' Mukherjee said, adding that he has also lost his appetite. 'His mom is terrified that these are symptoms that his leukemia situation might be deteriorating.' The mother, son and 9-year-old daughter fled Honduras in October 2024 due to death threats, according to the lawsuit. They entered the U.S. using the CBP One app and were paroled into the country by the Department of Homeland Security, which determined they didn't pose a danger to the community, Mukherjee said. They were told to appear at a Los Angeles immigration court May 29. President Donald Trump ended CBP One for new entrants on his first day in office after more than 900,000 people had been allowed in the country using the app since it was expanded to include migrants in January 2023. During the family's hearing, the mother tried to tell the judge that they wished to continue their cases for asylum, Mukherjee said. Homeland Security moved to dismiss their cases, and the judge immediately granted that motion. When they stepped out of the courtroom, they found men in civilian clothing believed to be ICE agents who arrested the family, Mukherjee said. They spent about 11 hours at an immigrant processing center in Los Angeles and were each only given an apple, a small packet of cookies, a juice box and water. At one point, an officer near the boy lifted his shirt, revealing his gun. The boy urinated on himself and was left in wet clothing until the next morning, Mukherjee said. They were later taken to the processing center, where they have been held ever since. 'The family is suffering in this immigration detention center,' she said. 'The kids are crying every night. They're praying to God for their release from this detention center.' Their lawyers have filed an appeal of the immigration judge's May decision, but they're at risk of being deported within days because the government says they are subjected to expedited removal, Mukherjee said. The arrests of the family were illegal and unjustified, said Kate Gibson Kumar, an attorney for the Texas Civil Rights project who is also representing the family. 'The essential question in our case is, when you have these families who are doing everything right, especially with young children, should there be some protection there?' Gibson Kumar said. 'We say 'yes.''
