Mejia v. Miller

Brief Details

Date Filed
02/02/2023
Original Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Current Court
United States District Court for the Central District of California

A Bureau of Land Management officer shot Denise Mejia twice, hitting her hand and her head, after suspecting that a few hours earlier her husband committed a traffic violation.

She sued the officer, seeking redress for violations of her Fourth Amendment rights, which included an excessive-force Bivens claim—the same claim recognized by the Supreme Court in Bivens. Despite this apparent affinity, the panel dismissed Denise’s claim, in contravention of Congress’s plain prescript in the Westfall Act and the Supreme Court’s instruction in Egbert to defer to Congress’s will.

The lower court denied the officer's motion for summary judgment. IJ's amicus argues the court should rehear this appeal en banc and affirm the district court’s denial of the officer’s summary judgment motion.