Stanford Law Clinic Takes on United States: Supreme Court asked to review deportation of U.S. citizen

Here is Adam Liptak's description of the case for the N.Y. Times in which the U.S. government is accused of wrongfully taking her U.S. citizen daughter from U.S. citizen Monica Castro and then transporting the baby across the border with his undocumented father:

 "Ms. Castro later sued the government, saying the agents had no legal authority to detain, much less deport, her daughter. Nor should Border Patrol agents, she said, take the place of family-court judges in making custody decisions. The last court to rule in the case, the full United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, rejected Ms. Castro’s arguments, over the dissents of three judges. The brief unsigned majority decision, echoing that of the trial judge, said the appeals court did not `condone the Border Patrol’s actions or the choices it made.' But, the decision went on, Ms. Castro could not sue the government because the agents had been entitled to use their discretion in the matter."

Here is the cert petition in the case, which was filed by Pamela Karlan and Jeffrey Fisher at the Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic.  Download Castro cert petition

 
Coincidentally, the inaugural Central Valley Foundation/James B. McClatchy Lecture on the First Amendment at UC Davis will feature Professor Karlan. She will deliver a lecture discussing the recent Supreme Court decisions on campaign finance, television in the courtroom, and the rights of citizens who sign initiative petitions entitled "The Court, The Closet, and The First Amendment."

KJ