Trent Taylor is an inmate at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. For six days in September 2013, Taylor claimed that correctional officers confined him in two different unsanitary cells. In the first, the floor, the ceiling, the window, the walls, and even the water faucet were covered in feces. Taylor did not eat or drink for four days because he feared that he would consume contaminated products.

On October 6, 2020, the Supreme Court heard telephonic oral arguments for Tanzin v. Tavir, which poses the question of whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), passed in 1993, allows suits seeking money damages against individual federal employees, here FBI agents.

Recently, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit declined to extend Bivens to violations of the Fourth Amendment for excessive force and unreasonable seizure brought against Department of Veterans Affairs police officers.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that an FBI notice identifying a suspect as armed and dangerous justified an officer’s demonstration of his weapon and use of handcuffs during Terry stop and frisk.

Three Muslims in Southern California subjected to surveillance by the FBI solely because of their religion brought suit against FBI Agents and the U.S. government for violating their constitutional rights. Among various other claims, they brought a private right of action for violations under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and violations of their Fourth Amendment rights under Bivens. They also sought the expungement of collected information and damages for the alleged unlawful surveillance.

In October 2016, Little Rock, AR Police Officer Dennis Hutchins shot and killed Roy Lee Richards, Jr. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently found that Officer Hutchins’s shooting of Richards, who possessed a pellet gun, was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, and denied Officer Hutchins qualified immunity.

From February 2017 through February 2018, the Rutherford County, TN Sheriff’s Office investigated the sale of cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD, products by stores in Rutherford County. During the investigation, a law enforcement officer purchased CBD products from a store, and submitted them to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (“TBI”) for lab testing. In May 2017, a lab report indicated that the product contained CBD, a Schedule VI substance.

Recently, the First Circuit held that police officers who engage in community caretaking functions on private property without a warrant are entitled to constitutional protection.

In November 2019, FEDagent reported on oral argument in Hernandez v. Mesa. This is the second time the case came before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has issued a decision on the case and found that Bivens does not extend to claims based on a cross-border shooting.

On September 2, 2013, Ronald and Sharon Jenkins went to buy crabs at the Warf in Washington, DC. Mr. Jenkins operated their vehicle and got into an altercation with another driver in the parking lot after the other driver “stole” a parking spot that Mr. Jenkins was waiting for. The Jenkinses found another spot, and went on to purchase crabs. Before they returned to their vehicle, a police radio reported “a traffic dispute that possibly resulted in some type of assault” in which “a knife had been pulled.” Officer Michael Davis responded to the scene and spoke with other officers there.

On March 15, 2016, Jeffery Hill was released from prison under conditions and supervision.

In 2007, New Haven, CT became the first city in the United States to approve a municipal ID card for undocumented residents. Officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were aware of the proposed program and sent internal emails expressing concerns over the plan.

While Leonardo Ortega was closing a Subway shop, two masked men entered. One aimed a gun at Ortega and the other stole cash from the register. A struggle ensued, and Ortega was shot and pronounced dead when he arrived at the hospital.

On September 27, 2013, Luis Hernandez, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with public lewdness, a misdemeanor. While he was being processed in the New York City criminal court system, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Officer W. Outlaw lodged an immigration detainer against him, incorrectly asserting that Hernandez was the subject of an order of removal. The detainer identified Hernandez as an “alien” named “Luis Enrique Hernandez-Martinez” with a nationality of “Honduras.” The detainer requested the city’s department of corrections maintain custody of Hernandez, and the city complied.

January 14, 2016, was Terry Parnell’s birthday. That evening, he was celebrating with his fiancée, Nicole Cann, at her home in Detroit. That evening, Cann wanted to practice firing a legally purchased handgun, and she went out to her front porch and fired several practice shots at an abandoned home.

On May 26, 2017, Miguel Angel Vega-Torres was a passenger on a commercial bus that stopped at a border patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias, Texas. Border Patrol Agent David Gonzalez conducted an inspection of the bus at the checkpoint. During that inspection, Agent Gonzalez asked Vega-Torres for his citizenship documentation. Vega-Torres handed Agent Gonzalez his Legal Permanent Resident (“LPR”) card. Agent Gonzalez had a difficult time matching Vega-Torres’s face with the LPR card photo because Vega-Torres was occupied on his cell phone and made brief eye contact with Agent Gonzalez.

Earlier this year, FEDagent reported on oral argument heard before the Supreme Court in Mitchell v. Wisconsin, a case that asks whether a state statute permitting a warrantless blood draw of an unconscious driver is authorized under the Fourth Amendment. Recently, the Supreme Court issued its decision on that case, and held that when a driver is unconscious and cannot be given a breath test, the exigent circumstances doctrine permits a blood test without a warrant.

Recently, the Ninth Circuit held that law enforcement cannot detain incident to the execution of a search warrant when the purpose of the search is to detain, interrogate, and arrest a large number of individuals without individualized reasonable suspicion.

FEDagent previously reported on the Supreme Court’s opinion in Carpenter v. United States. In Carpenter, the Court held that the third-party doctrine does not apply to cell-site location information, and that the government’s acquisition of cell-site location information is a search under the Fourth Amendment requiring a warrant. On remand, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found that the FBI agents who obtained the cell-site location information reasonably relied on the Stored Communications Act when obtaining that information, and therefore, acted in good faith.

Last year, FEDagent reported on oral argument heard before the Supreme Court in Nieves v. Bartlett. This week, the Supreme Court issued its decision on that case, holding that a law enforcement officer’s probable cause to arrest an individual precludes a citizen’s First Amendment retaliatory arrest claim as a matter of law.