Byrd v. Lamb, No. 20-20217 (5th Cir. 2021)
Annotate this CaseThe Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to dismiss in a Bivens action brought by plaintiff, alleging that defendant, an agent for the Department of Homeland Security, used excessive force to effectuate an unlawful seizure. The court concluded that plaintiff's action is precluded by the court's binding case law in Oliva v. Nivar, 973 F.3d 438 (5th Cir. 2020), petition for cert. filed, 89 U.S.L.W. 28 (U.S. Jan. 29, 2021) (No. 20-1060). In Oliva, the court held that Bivens claims are limited to three situations and plaintiff's case presents a new context. The court explained that the incident between the parties involved defendant's suspicion of plaintiff harassing and stalking his son, not a narcotics investigation as was the case in Bivens. Furthermore, defendant did not manacle plaintiff in from of his family, nor strip-search him; defendant did not discriminate based on sex; and defendant did not fail to provide medical attention. Furthermore, in this case, as in Oliva, separation of powers counsels against extending Bivens. Accordingly, the court remanded with instructions to dismiss the claims against defendant.
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