Federal Ranger in Idaho Loses Due Process Suit Over Demotion

A former Bureau of Land Management law enforcement ranger saw a federal appellate court reject his lawsuit seeking monetary damages for claims he was denied due process when he was demoted.

David Harper’s suit didn’t fit within the three categories of cases in which a plaintiff has an implied cause of action for damages against federal officials under the Constitution, the first of which was recognized by the US Supreme Court in 1979’s Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said. Those categories are unreasonable ...