Fentanyl Trafficker’s Excessive Force Suit Revived on Appeal

A convicted fentanyl trafficker’s lawsuit alleging DEA agents used excessive force when arresting him can proceed after the First Circuit reversed a trial court’s order in the agents’ favor.

The district court erred in concluding that Robert Arias’s Bivens claims arose in a new context and couldn’t move forward due to a legislative development providing plaintiffs with an alternative way for bringing misconduct claims against federal law enforcement officials.

The legislative development—a 1988 amendment to the Inspector General Act—relied by the district court doesn’t itself constitute a “new context,” the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said Aug. ...