Supreme Court to Hear Case That Could Further Limit Lawsuits Against Federal Officers

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments November 9 in a case that could further limit the ability to seek money damages from federal officers accused of violating constitutional rights.

The case, Nielsen v. Watanabe, stems from a lawsuit against a federal prison nurse. Kekai Watanabe alleges that he was denied adequate medical treatment after being injured in a prison fight in Honolulu in 2021. His lawyers say an X-ray taken months later showed a fractured coccyx and that he continues to suffer pain.

At issue is the reach of Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, the 1971 decision that allowed certain constitutional damages claims against federal officers. The Supreme Court has sharply narrowed those claims in later decisions.

An appeals court allowed Watanabe's claim to proceed, comparing it to a 1980 ruling involving inadequate medical care for a federal prisoner. The Justice Department argues that the older medical-care ruling is obsolete, while lawyers for the nurse are asking the justices to go further and overturn Bivens itself.

Watanabe's lawyers argue that Congress preserved these types of claims when it passed legislation in 1996. The case concerns a prisoner's medical treatment, but the court's decision could affect the broader debate over accountability for federal law-enforcement officers. The court has not ruled on the case.