美国国家公共电台 NPR Supreme Court To Decide If Mexican Nationals May Sue For Border Shooting

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

In 2010, a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed an unarmed 15-year-old boy who was standing¹ on the Mexican side of the border. Between 2005 and 2013, there were 42 of these cross-border shooting deaths. Today, the U.S. Supreme² Court hears arguments as to whether or not the family of that 15-year-old has the right to sue. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg reports.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE³: To understand the facts of this case, you have to picture the place where the shooting happened on the border between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. The area is about 180 feet wide. Eighty feet one way leads to a steep incline and an 18-foot barbed wire fence on the U.S. side. An almost equal distance the other way, there's a steep incline leading to a wall topped by a guardrail on the Mexican side. In between is a concrete culvert through which an invisible line runs that separates the U.S. and Mexico.

And overhead is a railroad bridge with huge columns supporting it connecting the two countries. In June 2010, Sergio Hernandez and his friends were playing chicken, daring each other to run up the incline on the U.S. side and touch the fence. At some point, U.S. border agent Jesus Mesa, patrolling the culvert, arrived on a bicycle, grabbed one of the kids at the fence on the U.S. side while the others scampered⁴ away. Fifteen-year-old Sergio Hernandez ran past Mesa and hid behind a pillar beneath the bridge on the Mexican side.

As the boy peeked⁵ out, agent Mesa, 60 feet away or so on the U.S. side, drew his gun, aimed it at the boy and shot him dead. A day after the shooting, the FBI El Paso office issued a press release asserting that agent Mesa fired his gun after being, quote, "surrounded by suspected illegal aliens" who, quote, "continued to throw rocks at him." Two days later, cell phone videos surfaced contradicting that account. In one video, the boy's small figure can be seen edging out from behind the column.

Mesa fires and the boy falls to the ground.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BOB HILLIARD: Third shot kills him. It's coming up.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOT)

TOTENBERG: Bob Hilliard represents the Hernandez family in the lawsuit⁶ against Agent Mesa.

HILLIARD: In the video you just saw, it was clear that nobody was near him. The statement literally⁷ says he was surrounded by these boys, which is just objectively false.

TOTENBERG: On the cell phone video, a woman's voice is saying that some of the boys had been throwing rocks. But the video does not show that. The Justice Department decided⁸ not to prosecute⁹ Mesa. The department concluded it didn't have jurisdiction¹⁰ because the boy was not on U.S. soil when he was killed. Mexico charged the agent with murder. But when the U.S. refused to extradite him, no prosecution¹¹ could go forward. The Border Patrol did not discipline agent Mesa, a fact that critics, including high-ranking former agency officials, say reflects a pattern inside the agency.

The parents of the slain¹² boy, however, sued Mesa for damages, contending that the killing¹³ violated the Constitution by depriving Sergio Hernandez of his life. Here's Sergio's mother speaking through an interpreter.

MARIA GUADALUPE GUERECA: (Through interpreter) She can't believe that this is something that's allowed to happen, that a Border Patrol agent can kill a boy on the Mexican side and nothing happens.

TOTENBERG: As the case comes to the Supreme Court, there's been no trial yet, no court finding of facts. And Agent Mesa continues to maintain that he shot the boy in self-defense after being surrounded by rock-throwing kids. That's a scenario¹⁴ that his lawyers say is borne out by other videos from stationary¹⁵ cameras and not released to the public. Randolph Ortega represents Mesa on behalf of the Border Patrol Union.

RANDOLPH ORTEGA: It was clear that Agent Mesa was in an area that is wrought¹⁶ with narcotics¹⁷ trafficking and human trafficking. And it's clear that, in my opinion, he was defending himself.

TOTENBERG: Still, the only question before the Supreme Court today centers on whether the Hernandez family has the right to sue. A divided panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that no reasonable officer would have done what Agent Mesa did and that therefore, the parents could sue. However, the full Court of Appeals reversed that judgment¹⁸ ruling that because the Hernandez boy was standing on the Mexico side of the border and was a Mexican citizen with no ties to the United States, his family could not sue for a violation¹⁹ of the U.S. Constitution.

Moreover, the appeals court said that even if the facts as alleged²⁰ by the Hernandez family are true, Agent Mesa is entitled to qualified²¹ immunity²², meaning he cannot be sued because there's no recognized body of law barring his conduct. Lawyers for the Hernandez family counter that Supreme Court precedents²³ establish a practical approach in determining whether there's a right to sue for the use of excessive force in circumstances like these. Lawyer Hilliard says, yes, the boy was across the border when the shots were fired but by just 60 feet.

HILLIARD: This is a domestic action by a domestic police officer standing in El Paso, Texas, who is to be constrained²⁴ by this country's Constitution. There is a U.S. Supreme Court case that says a law enforcement officer cannot seize an individual by shooting him dead, which is what happened in this case.

TOTENBERG: Hilliard argues that if you follow the Border Patrol's argument to its necessary conclusion...

HILLIARD: It means that a law enforcement officer standing in the United States is immune from the U.S. Constitution when exercising deadly force right across the border. He could stand on the border and target practice the kids inside the culvert.

TOTENBERG: But agent Mesa's lawyer, Randolph Ortega, replies, that's not true and asks, how should the court draw the line?

ORTEGA: How far does it extend? Does it extend 40 feet, as far as the bullet can travel, all of Juarez, Mexico, all of Chihuahua, Mexico? Where does the line end?

TOTENBERG: Backed by the federal government, Ortega speculates that a ruling in favor of the Hernandez family could mean foreigners could sue over a drone attack. Now it's up to the Supreme Court to decide where to draw the line. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 peeked   

v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句

6 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

10 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

11 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

12 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

15 stationary   

adj.固定的，静止不动的

参考例句：

• A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
• Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。

16 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

17 narcotics   

n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒

参考例句：

• The use of narcotics by teenagers is a problem in many countries. 青少年服用麻醉药在许多国家中都是一个问题。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Police shook down the club, looking for narcotics. 警方彻底搜查了这个俱乐部，寻找麻醉品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

19 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

20 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

21 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

22 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

23 precedents   

引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例

参考例句：

• There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
• He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。

24 constrained   

adj.束缚的,节制的

参考例句：

• The evidence was so compelling that he felt constrained to accept it. 证据是那样的令人折服，他觉得不得不接受。
• I feel constrained to write and ask for your forgiveness. 我不得不写信请你原谅。