Cross-Border Shooting Suit Tossed by Divided Supreme Court (1)

A divided U.S. Supreme Court said the parents of a Mexican teenager can’t sue the American law enforcement agent who fatally shot the boy from across the border, in a ruling that curbs a decades-old tool for people to claim violations of their constitutional rights.

Voting 5-4 along ideological lines, the court barred Sergio Hernandez’s family from suing the U.S. border patrol agent who was standing in Texas when he shot the boy in 2010. Writing for the court, Justice Samuel Alito said only Congress could authorize the suit.

“Congress’s decision not to provide a judicial remedy does not compel ...