By Danielle Kerem
Restore the Fourth has once again filed an amicus brief that challenges the plurality opinion in United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U.S. 259 (1990) and seeks to promote an understanding of the Fourth Amendment that imposes limits on the exertion of U.S. authority against citizens and non-citizens alike — including children like Sergio Hernandez, a 15-year-old citizen of Mexico who was shot and killed by U.S. border patrol agent Jesus Mesa in the summer of 2010.
This past week, attorney Mahesha Subbaraman of Subbaraman PLLC submitted an amicus brief on behalf of our organization to the Supreme Court of the United States. The case, Hernandez v. Mesa, asks the Court to decide whether the use of deadly force against Sergio Hernandez, by a U.S. border patrol agent who deliberately fired at the unarmed teenager from American soil, constituted a violation of Hernandez’s Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. In our brief, we argue that the Fourth Amendment does indeed govern federal officers’ use of excessive force in cross-border shootings, as well as outline the historical and jurisprudential origins of that claim.
Amicus brief: http://restorethe4th.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Hernandez-Mesa-Amicus-Brief.pdf