Ziglar v. Abbasi

After September 11, 2001, the FBI arrested hundreds of people present in the United States illegally and detained those of interest without bail until cleared. Eighty-four such detainees, including Abbasi (plaintiff), were held at a Brooklyn facility in harsh conditions, kept in small cells twenty-three hours a day, shackled, strip searched, and allegedly physically and verbally abused. Abbasi and five others sued former executive-branch officials and the facility's wardens (defendants), seeking damages under Bivens for Fourth and Fifth Amendment violations. The district court dismissed the claims against all but the wardens; the court of appeals reinstated the claims against the other officials. The Supreme Court granted review.

Whether, before extending a Bivens damages remedy to a new context, a court must assess whether special factors counsel hesitation in the absence of action by Congress.