Angelica De La Cruz

Political Science 001

June 1, 2017

In the NewsCurrent Supreme Court Cases

This case, Hernandez v. Mesa, is about a 15 year old boy who was shot twice and ended
up dead by one of the shots landing on his head. On June 7, 2010, Sergio Adrian Hernandez
Guereca was playing outside with his friends on the culvert of the Rio Grande that separates El
Paso, Texas from Juarez, Mexico. The young boy, Hernandez, was playing with his friends
running up and down touching the border fence of the United States side and then running back
down to the Mexican side. When the boy saw the border patrol come by, Jesus Mesa, jr., he ran
back down to the Mexican side and hid himself behind some pillars on Paso del Norte Bridge.
The border patrol saw Hernandez run behind some pillars, as Mesa stood standing on the United
States side of the border, he fired two gun shots, from the two gun shots that he fired one struck
Hernandez on the head and killed him. About six months later Hernandezs parents decided to
sue the border patrol, Jesus Mesa Jr., on the federal district court in Texas [because] Mesa
violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution through the use of deadly
force and the failure to use of reasonable force when making arrests. However, Mesa argued
that his death was to not be valid or reasonable because Hernandez was standing on the Mexican
side of the border and because he was an alien that lacked constitutional rights and protection. In
forth with the ongoing case, the district court decided that the deadly force protection wouldnt
protect Hernandez because he was a non-citizen, however the U.S Court of appeals decided and
reversed the previous decision and concluded that the 5th amendment against deadly force did
apply but not the 4th amendment. After all, the case was reheard and the 5th amendment was
declined because the boy was a Mexican citizen who was killed in Mexican soil. The decision of
this case has not been made and is still pending. I think this issue is important because many
times law enforcements and border patrol take advantage of their status and use unnecessary
excessive force that many times kills innocent people. An issue that we deal with in todays
society. The ideology in this case is that the policy wasnt relevant in Hernandezs favor because
he was a Mexican citizen whose murder took place in Mexican soil not in the U.S. soil.

How do you feel about the border patrols action in killing the 15 year old boy?

If the decision is made, how do you think the public would respond to either decision?