Supreme Court says parents can't sue US Border Patrol agent who fatally shot teenage son in Mexico

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10. Another link:

Supreme Court denies Mexican family's damages claim for cross-border shooting

Richard Wolf
USA TODAY

Published: 10:23 a.m. ET Feb. 25, 2020 | Updated: 11:39 a.m. ET Feb. 25, 2020

WASHINGTON – A deeply divided Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the family of a Mexican teen shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent cannot seek damages because of the border that was between them.

The justices ruled 5-4 that 15-year-old Sergio Adrian Hernández Guereca lacked constitutional protection against the use of excessive force because he was in Mexico. Had he been in Texas with Border Patrol agent Jesus Mesa, his family would have had a claim.

Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote the opinion and was joined by the court's four other conservatives. The four liberal justices dissented.

"A cross-border shooting claim has foreign relations and national security implications,"" Alito wrote. "In addition, Congress has been notably hesitant to create claims based on allegedly tortious conduct abroad."

Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the dissent for her liberal colleagues. She said the shooting occurred on the U.S. side of the border, so the majority's concern about applying the law abroad should not apply.

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