Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-147_g31h.pdf
Page Number: 26.0

2 

EGBERT v. BOULE 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting
Opinion of SOTOMAYOR, J. 

may not proceed under Bivens, but for reasons grounded in
precedent rather than this Court’s newly announced test. 

I 
This  case  comes  to  the  Court  following  the  District
Court’s grant of summary judgment to Agent Egbert.  The 
Court is therefore bound to draw all reasonable factual in-
ferences in favor of Boule.  See Tolan v. Cotton, 572 U. S. 
650, 656–657 (2014) (per curiam).  Because the Court fails 
to do so, the factual record is described below in some detail, 
in the light our precedent requires. 

A 
Boule is a U. S. citizen who owns, operates, and lives in a
small  bed-and-breakfast  called  the  Smuggler’s  Inn  in
Blaine, Washington.  The property line of the land on which 
the inn is located touches the U. S.-Canada border.  Shortly 
after purchasing the property in 2000, Boule became aware 
that people used his property to cross the border illegally in 
both directions.  Boule began serving as a paid, confidential 
informant  for  Customs  and  Border  Protection  (CBP)  in
2003 and for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
in  2008.  At  the  time  of  the  events  at  issue  in  this  case, 
Boule was still serving as an informant for ICE.  ICE would 
coordinate with CBP and other agencies based on the infor-
mation Boule provided.  Over the years, Boule provided in-
formation leading to numerous arrests.

On  the  morning  of  March  20,  2014,  petitioner  Erik  Eg-
bert,  a  CBP  agent,  twice  stopped  Boule  while  Boule  was 
running  errands  in  town.  Agent  Egbert  knew  that  Boule 
was a long-time informant for ICE and that he had previ-
ously worked as an informant for CBP.  Agent Egbert asked 
Boule about guests at the inn, and Boule advised him of a 
guest  he  expected  to  arrive  that  day  from  New  York  who 
had flown in from Turkey the day before.  Boule explained 
that two of his employees were en route to pick the guest up