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.

Ken Cuccinelli’s appointment as acting Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is unconstitutional, a federal district court held this week.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) removed a preference-eligible veteran from his position as an attorney advisor near the end of his one-year probationary period due to allegedly poor performance. The employee filed for corrective action with the Merit Systems Protection Board, alleging that the agency violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) when it removed him because of his preference-eligible status. An MSPB administrative judge denied the request for corrective action, and the employee appealed to the Federal Circuit. On November 7, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the MSPB decision, and remanded the case to the MSPB for a determination of the appropriate corrective action. On January 22, 2020, before the remand took effect, the government filed a petition for rehearing en banc, asking that all judges of the Federal Circuit hear the case and rule on a “precedent-setting question of exceptional importance.”

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 January 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in the matter of Babb v. Wilkie. The question in this case is whether the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) requires federal sector employees to show that age was a “but-for” cause of the personnel action taken. Previously, the court has interpreted the private-sector provision to require “but-for” causation.

Onlookers have a right to observe police-citizen interactions at a distance, and an onlooker’s refusal to provide his full social security number does not create a basis for an officer to detain him.

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

The Arizona Attorney General recently petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to decide that an unauthorized alien is categorically barred from establishing an ineffective assistance of counsel claim based on erroneous advice regarding the immigration consequences of a plea agreement.

The National Treasury Employees Union appealed the Federal Labor Relations Authority’s denial of its negotiability petition related to changes in the number of different possible rating levels for its members at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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.

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide Hernandez v. Mesa for a second time.

Whether the criminal prohibition against encouraging or inducing illegal immigration for financial gain violates the First Amendment will be determined by the U.S. Supreme Court this term.

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.

Convicted “D.C. sniper” Lee Boyd Malvo’s appeal of his sentence to life in prison without parole was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court this week.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Whether the mere offer to buy or sell a controlled substance can, by itself, constitute the crime of an “attempt” to violate the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is currently on petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court.