U.S. Citizen, Wrongfully Deported by ICE, Wins Partial Court Victory

"[T]he Court holds that a United States citizen with a diminished mental capacity who has been detained without probable cause, who the federal agents know claims to be a U.S. citizen, whose claim of citizenship is not investigated, whose claim is supported by easily accessible corroborating evidence, and who is manipulated by the federal agents through coercion and distortion of the record, should have a claim against the responsible agents to recover damages for his injuries caused by his detention and subsequent banishment from the United States, if he is able to prove that the government employee violated his constitutional rights in the process and if that employee is not entitled to qualified immunity. Accordingly, the Court finds that Lyttle’s Fourth Amendment seizure claim and his Fifth Amendment due process claim for monetary damages against the individual ICE Defendants shall not be dismissed as disallowed under Bivens." - Lyttle v. USA, Mar. 31, 2012.  [Hats way off to the pro bono attorneys at Troutman Sanders, the ACLU, etc.]

More on the Mark Lyttle saga from Prof. Jacqueline Stevens...