The case began under the Obama administration

Supreme Court Torn Over Whether Constitution Should Apply To Cross

Border Patrol agent from the American side found the justices wrestling with whether a non citizen has any constitutional rights at the border. The answer will determine whether a federal law enforcement officer who violates a person’s fundamental right to not be killed can be sued.

canada goose coats on sale “You have a very sympathetic case,” Justice Stephen Breyer told Bob Hilliard, the lawyer representing Hernandez’s parents, who didn’t attend the hearing. Border Patrol Agent Jess Mesa, who killed their son in 2010. canada goose coats on sale

According to the parents’ lawsuit, Hernndez and other boys were playing in the cement river bank of the Rio Grande, which separates the neighboring cities of El Paso, canada goose outlet official Texas, and Ciudad Jurez, Mexico. Suspecting they were smugglers, Mesa approached the teens and moved to apprehend one. Some began to throw rocks, and Mesa opened fire in self defense, according to a Department of Justice investigation. Hernndez, shot from the opposite side of the river, was killed.

At the center of the justices’ concern during oral arguments in Hernandez v. Mesa was whether the court has the capacity to fashion a narrow rule that may provide relief to victims like the parents of Hernndezwithout exposing the federal government to canada goose parka uk civil liability for other kinds of violence abroad.

“How do you analyze the case of a drone strike in Iraq, where the plane canada goose outlet toronto is piloted from Nevada?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Hilliard. “Why wouldn’t the same analysis apply in that case?”

Hilliard, a longtime trial lawyer who has represented the Hernandez family throughout the case,struggled to give a straight answer on the proper standard courts should apply to cross border shootings. In 2015, an appeals court ruled that the Constitution doesn’t apply to these kinds of incidents, essentially insulating Mesa and others like him from cross border liability.

“We need to have a rule. that can be applied in other cases,” said Justice Samuel Alito. “But you canada goose outlet location need to give us a principle that’s workable.”

Canada Goose Parka Time and canada goose jacket outlet uk again, the justices and the lawyers referred back to Boumediene v. Bush, a landmark, post 9/11 precedent that established that foreign born detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba had a due process right to challenge their detention. Canada Goose Parka

canada goose Justice Anthony Kennedy was pivotal in that decision, which granted constitutional protections to the detainees. But on Tuesday, Kennedy didn’t seem so sure that civil liability should extend to federal law enforcement officers who fire across the border and suggested that the solution canada goose outlet las vegas instead rests with Congress and the executive branch. canada goose

canada goose clearance sale “You’ve indicated that there’s a problem all along the border,” Kennedy said. “Why doesn’t that counsel us that this is one of the most sensitive areas of foreign affairs, where the political branches should discuss with Mexico what the solution ought to be?” canada goose clearance sale

Canada Goose online There is no law on the books that allows litigants to sue federal officials for constitutional violations. But the Supreme Court in 1972 ruled that courts can hear these kinds of cases under specific circumstances. Kennedy cautioned that the court hasn’t extended this doctrine since 1988, and indicated that this may not be the right case to do it. Canada Goose online

canada goose uk outlet As legal twists would have canada goose outlet florida it, Tuesday’s hearing was the first time the Trump administration presented an oral argument before the justices. The case began under the Obama administration, and Edwin Kneedler, the experienced lawyer who argued for the government, took a strong position against the Mexican teen’s family. canada goose uk outlet

This case “gives rise to foreign relations problems, which are committed to the political branches,” Kneedler said.

At one point, Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Kneedler if he had seen video of Sergio’s death on YouTube, which appears to contradict the Justice Department account that Mesa acted in self defense. “Border policemen are shooting indiscriminately from within the United States across the border,” Sotomayor said.

Canada Goose Coats On Sale If the Supreme Court rules that the Hernandez family can get no relief in federal https://www.canadagooseparka.biz court for Sergio’s death, they’d have nowhere else to turn. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Mesa in 2012, and the federal government rejected a separate request from Mexico to extradite the officer there for prosecution. Civil liability is the only avenue left. Canada Goose Coats On Sale

cheap canada goose uk Justice Elena Kagan suggested that because Hernandez v. that maybe the Supreme Court should try something more nuanced than an all or nothing approach. cheap canada goose uk

“The dividing line isn’t even marked on the ground. Isn’t that right? You can’t tell on the ground where Mexico ends and the United States begins,” Kagan said. “I don’t know whether to call it a no man’s land, canada goose jacket uk but it’s this liminal area, which is kind of neither one thing nor another thing.”

Given the complexities of the case, it is possible canada goose outlet the court may split 4 4, which would set no legal precedent. To avoid that result, the justices may choose to wait until Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s nominee to the seatof the late Justice Antonin Scalia, is confirmed. By then, the court canada goose outlet store montreal may also choose to hold a new oral argument.

A decision is expected by the end of June.

canada goose factory sale Inside the courtroom, Roberts did something else to welcome the Trump era: He acknowledged the 84th attorney general of the United States, Jeff Sessions, who was in attendance. This recognition will be a part of the Supreme Court’s public record canada goose factory sale.