Numerically speaking, it's always a long shot to be granted cert and have the Supreme Court hear a case (some in the biz say only a 2-4% chance of the court hearing a case). Still, I am comfortable knowing that whether the high court hears my case or not, I did everything I could possibly do to defend the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans, in accordance with the oath of office I took as a military officer.
I installed cameras to capture the routine violations I experienced at the checkpoint. I spent years navigating our legal system and paid an enormous amount of money in that process. I endured negative ramifications in my military employment. And I secured some incredibly talented lawyers to work on my suit, people who gave far more than myself and who ensured that the case was presented to the judiciary with clarity along with the truth of events captured on film.
Whatever happens from here, I was faithful to my oath of office to support and defend the Constitution against domestic enemies, and to bear true faith and allegiance to it without mental reservation or purpose of evasion.
I was a faithful public servant who did everything that I could to protect the blood-earned rights of Americans to be free from unreasonable government seizure within their own nation. I did what I could.
My case concerns a 34 minute detention and seizure at an interior suspicionless checkpoint where agents had no reasonable suspicion that I had committed any crime, and where I answered 17 of 18 questions posed to me and provided four forms of ID including personal and official passports to prove I was in my own country legally.
The Border Patrol agents are legally required to make these suspicionless detentions brief and to limit them to the programmatic purpose of the stop (determining immigration status). They didn't even come remotely close to doing this and this civil suit resulted.
What my litigation has demonstrated, however, is that the court mandated principal protection of the Fourth Amendment at these stops is not a practical reality in the jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit. Ironically in that circuit, innocent Americans have lesser fourth amendment protections than Americans who commit crimes, or who are suspected of criminal activity.
My cert petition before the high court can be read here.
More information on my lawsuit up to this point can be found at the following links:
Reason Magazine
John Stossel - Fox News
The Air Force Times
The Newspaper.Com
Slate Magazine
CheckpointUSA.Org
I followed your case watching the video, listening to the oral argument in the 5th Circuit, and reading the court's opinion. I heartily thank you for seeking redress for the constitutional violations committed by the Border Patrol against you. The police see the Fourth Amendment as an inconvenient impediment to catching bad guys. They lack the institutional perspective to see constant encroachments as the threat to long term American freedom that it is unless checked by people pushing back and the courts vindicating those rights. I was deeply disappointed the 5th Circuit took such a casual approach to the violations of your rights. Let us hope that the Supreme Court is more cognizant of its duty.
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