Argument preview: Justices take on issues arising out of cross-border shooting

[Draggingtree]

:

Argument preview: Justices take on issues arising out of cross-border shooting

By Amy Howe on Feb 14, 2017 at 6:16 pm

 

In any context, the case of Hernández v. Mesa would be an important one: The parents of Sergio Hernández, a Mexican teen shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent while standing on Mexican soil, are seeking to sue the agent responsible for their son’s death in U.S. courts. But with the United States’ relationship with Mexico already strained in the wake of the Trump administration’s announcement that it plans to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border – and have Mexico reimburse the U.S. for the cost of construction – the lawsuit filed by Jesus Hernández and his wife, Maria Guadalupe Guereca Bentacour, takes on even more significance. Supporting Mesa, the federal government insists that allowing suits like this one could “significantly disrupt the ability of the political branches to respond to foreign situations involving” the U.S.’s national interest, while the Mexican government – supporting the parents – suggests that shutting the lawsuit down could harm

[Draggingtree]

1. Tuesday round-up

2. By Edith Roberts on Feb 21, 2017 at 6:18 am

 

3. Today the court returns from its February break to hear oral argument in two cases. First up is Hernández v. Mesa, a case that stems from the cross-border shooting of a Mexican teenager by a U.S. Border Patrol agent. Amy Howe previewed the case for this blog. Another preview comes from Laurel Hopkins and Eugene Temchenko at Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute. The George Washington Law Review’s On the Docket also previews Hernández, along with all the cases in the February sitting. In USA Today, Richard Wolf reports on Hernández, remarking on its possible effect on already fraught “U.S.-Mexico relations.” Additional coverage comes from Mark Sherman for the Associated Press, who observes that the “legal issues are different, but the Supreme Court case resembles the court battle over President Donald Trump’s ban on travelers from seven majority Muslim nations in at least one sense”: “Courts examining both issues are weighing whether foreigners can have their day in U.S. courts.” David Gans in The New Republic argues that Hernández offers the court “an important opportunity to reaffirm its core constitutional role of keeping the political branches in check, vindicating individual rights, and ensuring that no one is above the law,” and predicts that this “Supreme Court case will come down, as so many do, to Justice Anthony Kennedy.”

4. Continue reading »

http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/02/tuesday-round-up-366/#more-252350

[Draggingtree]

In cross-border shooting case, Supreme Court asks: Does Constitution stop at the border?

Written by Jordan Rudner / AT19 HRS AGO

 

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a case involving the cross-border shooting of a Mexican teenager, who was standing in Mexico, by a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was standing in El Paso.

 

The case may invite prosecution against Border Patrol agents who injure or kill Mexican citizens at a time when the Trump administration is looking to swell the ranks and expand the responsibilities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

 

But during oral arguments, the justices at times focused on the minute circumstantial details of the highly unusual case — like the fact that both countries are technically responsible for maintenance of the concrete culvert that winds between two fences on the border of El Paso and Juárez.

 

“It’s like nothing I’ve seen before,” Justice Stephen Breyer said.

 

Justice Elena Kagan added, “Whatever it is, it’s something very different from most areas where we know exactly whose jurisdiction operates, and how.” http://www.dallasnews.com/news/immigration/2017/02/21/cross-border-shooting-case-supreme-court-asks-constitution-stop-border