Supreme Court Tosses Lawsuit Against U.S. Border Patrol Agent Who Killed Mexican Teenager
Brent Kendall, Wall Street Journal, February 25, 2020
A divided Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that U.S. Border Patrol agents can’t be held liable for damages for shooting people on the Mexico side of the southern U.S. border.
The court, in a 5-4 opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, disallowed a lawsuit seeking damages against agent Jesus Mesa Jr., who fired shots in 2010 that fatally struck teenager Sergio Hernandez in the face as he was standing on the Mexico side of the border.
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The shooting occurred as Mr. Hernandez and his friends were playing in a cement culvert that separates El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The victim’s family said the group was playing a game in which they would run and touch the border fence. Mr. Mesa alleged the group threw rocks at him during an attempted illegal border crossing.
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