Case Summary:

In Clark v. Sweeney, a Maryland jury convicted Jeremiah Sweeney of second-degree murder and related offenses after a shooting that killed a bystander about 75 yards away during an argument over stolen marijuana, and the conviction was later affirmed on direct appeal. After trial, it emerged that one juror had independently visited the crime scene; the court dismissed that juror and continued deliberations with 11 jurors. In later state postconviction and then federal habeas proceedings, Sweeney argued only that trial counsel was ineffective under Strickland for failing to voir dire the entire jury to determine whether any other juror was tainted by the unauthorized visit, but the state courts and the federal district court denied relief. The Fourth Circuit reversed and ordered a new trial based not on Sweeney’s ineffective-assistance claim but on its own theory that combined failures by the juror, judge, and attorney violated Sweeney’s confrontation and impartial-jury rights, thereby departing from the adversarial principle of party presentation.​ The Supreme Court held that there is no implied damages cause of action under the Constitution (no Bivens remedy) for federal prisoners alleging Eighth Amendment excessive-force violations by federal prison officials.