Case Law Update Conor Dirks Case Law Update Conor Dirks

Federal Circuit: Cadet Service Cannot Help Satisfy Five-Year FERS Service Requirement

A political appointee retired from federal service after almost four years of civilian service, relying on advice from a human resources official that he could “buy back” time spent as a cadet at West Point and credit it towards the five years of civilian service required to qualify for a FERS retirement annuity. When OPM found that he was ineligible for an annuity, he appealed to the Merit Systems Protection Board, which affirmed OPM’s decision. The employee appealed. On October 2, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Board’s decision.

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Case Law Update Michael J. Sgarlat Case Law Update Michael J. Sgarlat

Second Circuit: Plausible FTCA Claim Made Where Immigration Detainer Was Imposed without Probable Cause

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.

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Case Law Update Conor Dirks Case Law Update Conor Dirks

First Circuit: No Need to Correctly Label Legal Theory for OSC Exhaustion

An ICE Supervisory Special Agent delivered a document to a colleague at the direction of his supervisor, the Assistant Special Agent in Charge. The colleague (a Special Agent) later used the document in support of his own whistleblower case against the Agency. After the Agency learned of the Supervisory Special Agent’s involvement in his colleague’s appeal, he was not selected for promotion, and received a lower-than-normal performance appraisal. He then filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, alleging that the agency retaliated against him for providing information to his colleague that was later used in his colleague’s appeal.

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Case Law Update Michael J. Sgarlat Case Law Update Michael J. Sgarlat

Fifth Circuit: Duration of Immigration Stop, Not the Questions Asked by Agents, Determines Its Constitutionality

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.

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Case Law Update Michael J. Sgarlat Case Law Update Michael J. Sgarlat

Supreme Court Holds that Warrantless Blood Tests of Unconscious Drivers Are ‘Almost Always’ Authorized under the Fourth Amendment

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.

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Case Law Update James P. Garay Heelan Case Law Update James P. Garay Heelan

Failure to Obtain Anticipatory Search Warrant Does Not Invalidate Search Under Exigent Circumstances, Ninth Circuit Finds

On August 4, 2015, the United States Postal Inspection Service in Honolulu executed a search warrant and found approximately six pounds of methamphetamine in a package from Las Vegas, addressed to Bryant Kazuyoshi Iwai’s condominium. The next day DEA agents obtained a second warrant to track a controlled delivery of the package to Iwai’s building, with a GPS tracking device that would activate a rapid beeping signal when the package was opened.

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Case Law Update Conor Dirks Case Law Update Conor Dirks

D.C. Circuit: Unions Must Use FLRA to Challenge Trump’s Fed Workforce Executive Orders

After the president issued three executive orders regarding relations between the federal government and its employees, several federal employee unions filed lawsuits in district court to challenge provisions in those orders. Those suits were consolidated at the district court in June 2018. In its August 2018 decision, the district court found several provisions in the executive orders unlawful, and ordered agencies to cease implementation of those provisions. The government appealed the district court decision, and on July 16, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that the district court lacked jurisdiction to hear the unions’ claims, and vacated the district court judgment.

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Case Law Update Michael J. Sgarlat Case Law Update Michael J. Sgarlat

On Remand from the Supreme Court, the Sixth Circuit Applies the Good Faith Exception in Carpenter

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.

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Case Law Update James P. Garay Heelan Case Law Update James P. Garay Heelan

Inclusion of Illegally Obtained Evidence Does Not Defeat Detailed Warrant Application

Mark Turner persuaded Demontae Bell to help him sell several stolen firearms. When Turner later was arrested on charges related to manufacturing methamphetamine, he cooperated with law enforcement, provided them information about the firearms sale, and aided the government in targeting Bell. After a controlled transaction, Turner showed FBI Special Agent Jason Nixon a photo of an AK-47 on his phone, which he said Bell had texted to him.

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Case Law Update Michael J. Sgarlat Case Law Update Michael J. Sgarlat

Supreme Court Finds That an Officer’s Probable Cause Bars First Amendment Retaliatory Arrest Claims

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.

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