Egbert v. Boule

Egbert v. Boule

Opinion

Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

In Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U. S. 388, 91 S. Ct. 1999, 29 L. Ed. 2d 619 (1971), this Court authorized a damages action against federal officials for alleged violations of the Fourth Amendment. Over the past 42 years, however, we have declined 11 times to imply a similar cause of action for other alleged constitutional violations. See Chappell v. Wallace, 462 U. S. 296, 103 S. Ct. 2362, 76 L. Ed. 2d 586 (1983); Bush v. Lucas, 462 U. S. 367, 103 S. Ct. 2404, 76 L. Ed. 2d 648 (1983); United States v. Stanley, 483 U. S. 669, 107 S. Ct. 3054, 97 L. Ed. 2d 550 (1987); Schweiker v. Chilicky, 487 U. S. 412, 108 S. Ct. 2460, 101 L. Ed. 2d 370 (1988); FDIC v. Meyer, 510 U. S. 471, 114 S. Ct. 996, 127 L. Ed. 2d 308 (1994); Correctional Services Corp. v. Malesko, 534 U. S. 61, 122 S. Ct. 515, 151 L. Ed. 2d 456 (2001); Wilkie v. Robbins, 551 U. S. 537, 127 S. Ct. 2588, 168 L. Ed. 2d 389 (2007); *** v. Castaneda, 559 U. S. 799, 130 S. Ct. 1845, 176 L. Ed. 2d 703 (2010); Minneci v. Pollard, 565 U. S. 118, 132 S. Ct. 617, 181 L. Ed. 2d 606 (2012); Ziglar v. Abbasi, 582 U. S. ___, 137 S. Ct. 1843, 198 L. Ed. 2d 290 (2017); Hernández v. Mesa, 589 U. S. ___, 140 S. Ct. 735, 206 L. Ed. 2d 29 (2020). Nevertheless, the Court of Appeals permitted not one, but two constitutional damages actions to proceed against a U. S. Border Patrol agent: a Fourth Amendment excessive-force claim and a First Amendment retaliation claim. Because our cases have made clear that, in all but the most unusual circumstances, [*8]  prescribing a cause of action is a job for Congress, not the courts, we reverse.

Blaine, Washington, is the last town in the United States along U. S. Interstate Highway 5 before reaching the Canadian border. Respondent Robert Boule is a longtime Blaine resident. The rear of his property abuts the Canadian border at “0 Avenue,” a Canadian street. Boule’s property line actually extends five feet into Canada. Several years ago, Boule placed a line of small stones on his property to mark the international boundary. As shown below, any person could easily enter the United States or Canada through or near Boule’s property. See App. 100.

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