Ninth Circuit Rejects Civil Damages Claim for Border Shooting

Steven D. Schwinn, University of Illinois School of Law

The Ninth Circuit rejected civil damage claims by the family of a Mexican victim who was shot dead on the U.S.-Mexico border by a U.S. Border Patrol officer. The ruling leaves the family without a civil damage remedy for the shooting.

The case, Perez v. U.S., arose when a U.S. Border Patrol officer shot and killed a Mexican citizen on the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico border fence. Although the parties differ as to the facts, it appears that the Officer shot the victim after the victim threw, or threatened to throw, rocks. (Border Patrol policy apparently authorizes officers to use deadly force against individuals who throw rocks. This is called the "Rocking Policy.")

The victim's family sued under the Alien Tort Statute, the Federal Tort Claims Act, and Bivens. The Ninth Circuit rejected each of the claims.

As to the ATS claim, the court said that the U.S. hadn't waived sovereign immunity, and that an ATS claim doesn't circumvent immunity. Even if the plaintiffs alleged a violation of international law, the court said that U.S. sovereign immunity prevented them from succeeding in an ATS claim.

As to the FTCA claim, the court said that the plaintiffs filed out of time, and failed to satisfy requirements for equitable tolling. In particular, the court said that the plaintiffs mistakenly believed that they couldn't simultaneously file an FTCA claim and a Bivens claim (which is why they didn't initially file an FTCA claim within time), when circuit precedent said that they could. Because they made a mistake of law, the court said that it couldn't toll the FTCA statute of limitations.

Finally, as to Bivens, the court ruled that the case raised a new Bivens context, and that special factors counseled against extending a Bivens remedy. In particular, the court said that the plaintiffs' claim against the Border Patrol Chief (for failing to reverse the Rocking Policy) would improperly involve the court in formulating and implementing policy. And the court said that the plaintiffs' claims against the officer who shot the victim raised national security concerns.

The court acknowledged that the ruling left the family without a civil damage remedy for the killing. But it also said expressed "regret that the law compels this result."