“The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether the owner of a bed and breakfast establishment called the Smugglers Inn can sue a border patrol agent for damages under the First and Fourth Amendments.
The high court accepted the case of innkeeper Robert Boule, who says a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent shoved him to the ground and then retaliated after Boule reported the incident to superiors, report Law360, SCOTUSblog and Courthouse News Service.
At issue is the reach of the cause of action for damages under the Fourth Amendment, allowed against federal agents by the 1971 case Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics.
Following the decision, the Supreme Court has allowed Bivens claims for damages under the Fifth and Eighth Amendments, according to SCOTUSblog coverage. But in 2017, the court cautioned that expanding the Bivens remedy is disfavored.”
This article was originally posted in the ABA Journal.
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