Short Circuit 280 | Something’s Rotten in the State of Bivens

Scott Michelman of the ACLU-DC joins us to discuss the ins-and-outs of a recent fascinating (yet disappointing) ruling of the D.C. Circuit. Remember when President Trump had a square cleared of protesters—with tear gas—so he could take a photo op? Scott represents some of the plaintiffs in that case, whose claims against federal officials were thrown out because the court said it wasn’t enough like three cases from over forty years ago. Yet, it seems like some of the judges were reluctant about that conclusion and even offered a theory about how a different lawsuit might work in a future. Then Anya Bidwell discusses a very different result from the Seventh Circuit where a claim against federal narcotics agents could go forward because the relevant precedent, Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics was against, well, federal narcotics agents.

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Buchanan v. Barr

Snowden v. Henning

Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics