SCOTUS avoids deciding El Paso cross border shooting case and remands to CA5

The El Paso-Ciudad Juarez cross border shooting case remanded by SCOTUS to the Fifth Circuit for reconsideration in light of a decision from the Court on June 19th on whether Bivens applies. Hernández v. Mesa, 2017 U.S. LEXIS 4059 (June 26, 2017) (per curiam):

With respect to petitioners’ Fourth Amendment claim, the en banc Court of Appeals found it unnecessary to address the Bivens question because it concluded that Hernández lacked any Fourth Amendment rights under the circumstances. This approach—disposing of a Bivens claim by resolving the constitutional question, while assuming the existence of a Bivens remedy—is appropriate in many cases. This Court has taken that approach on occasion. See, e.g., Wood, supra, at ___ (slip op., at 11). The Fourth Amendment question in this case, however, is sensitive and may have consequences that are far reaching. It would be imprudent for this Court to resolve that issue when, in light of the intervening guidance provided in Abbasi, doing so may be unnecessary to resolve this particular case.

Lawfare: What Happened in Hernandez v. Mesa? by Andrew Kent