Snowden v. Henning
7th Cir. No. 21-1463
Mr. Snowden suffered a blatantly unlawful use of force at the hands of a federal agent, Officer Henning. Officer Henning shoved Mr. Snowden into a door, and then pushed him onto the ground. Despite Mr. Snowden offering no resistance, Henning then punched Mr. Snowden several times in the face, causing him two black eyes and a left eye socket fracture, before arresting him.
Snowden sued Agent Henning, bringing a Fourth Amendment Bivens claim for use of excessive force during the arrest and a state-law claim for battery. The district judge dismissed the Bivens claim, concluding that it presents a new context and that special factors counseled against extending Bivens here. In our appeal, Rights Behind Bars and Covington & Burling LLP argued that Mr. Snowden’s case is precisely the same context as the original Bivens case: a federal drug agent used unreasonable force during the course of an arrest.
The Seventh Circuit agreed.