(WASHINGTON, DC, 5/27/2022) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, announced the filing of a petition for certiorari in Elhady v. Bradley, along with their co-counsel, the University of Texas Law School’s Supreme Court Clinic and Professor Stephen Vladeck.Anas Elhady is a U.S. citizen who was detained in 2015 in freezing conditions at the Ambassador Bridge connecting the U.S. and Canada for several hours until he passed out and required hospitalization. The District Court found that such actions violated Elhady’s clearly-established constitutional rights. On appeal, the Sixth Circuit reversed without even reaching the constitutional issue, because it decided on its own that federal agents are not liable for violating people’s constitutional rights at the border.

Road salt spread in the winter means contaminated water later. Photo by Thomas Brueckner, via Flickr. CC BY 2.0

Elhady’s petition explains that it was wrong for the Court to decide that issue prematurely, especially when the Government lawyers representing the federal agent did not even make that argument. Its holding federal agents cannot be sued for actions at the border was also contrary to the decisions of other Courts of Appeals.SEE:  Petition for Certiorari“The government violated Anas’s constitutional rights, with tragic results,” said CAIR Civil Rights Director Lena Masri. “The Court of Appeals was wrong to deny him even a trial.”“The Court of Appeal’s statement that there are no remedies when federal officers violate Americans’ rights at the border was wrong,” said CAIR Trial Attorney Justin Sadowsky. “And it was needless. The government did not even ask the Court to reach the issue.”SEE:  Sixth Circuit’s Decision “Federal courts have been too quick to eliminate remedies for constitutional violations committed by federal officers,” said Professor Vladeck, who co-authored the petition. “Like here, courts of appeals have increasingly cut off such remedies not only wrongly, but also when lacking jurisdiction to do so.”CAIR’s mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.La misión de CAIR es mejorar la comprensión del Islam, proteger las libertades civiles, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.