Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), was a case in which the US Supreme Court ruled that an implied cause of action existed for an individual whose Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizures had been violated by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) agents searched the Brooklyn home of the plaintiff, Webster Bivens, and arrested him without a warrant.

The district court agreed and dismissed the suit for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and for Bivens's failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

[4] In FDIC v. Meyer, 510 U.S. 471 (1994), and Correctional Services Corporation v. Malesko, 534 U.S. 61 (2001),[5] the court held that the fundamental logic supporting Bivens was to deter constitutional violations by individual officers, not federal agencies.

[6] In Wilkie v. Robbins, 551 U.S. 537 (2007), the court held that the difficulty inherent in "defining limits to legitimate zeal on the public's behalf in situations where hard bargaining is to be expected" was a "special factor" that counseled against the availability of a Bivens remedy.

[7] In Minneci v. Pollard, 565 U.S. 118 (2012), the court denied a Bivens action for Eighth Amendment violations committed by employees of a private prison because "state tort law authorizes adequate alternative damages actions … that provide both significant deterrence and compensation", despite acknowledging that these officials were "act[ing] under color of federal law".

[10] However, Reinert's research showed outcomes for plaintiffs more promising than had been assumed: "Depending on the procedural posture, presence of counsel, and type of case," success ranged from "16% to more than 40%," and that "when Bivens claims fail, it very rarely is because of the qualified immunity defense.

"[11][12] The Supreme Court granted certiorari to hear Egbert v. Boule, 596 U.S. ___ (2022), in November 2021, which was expected to review extensions of Bivens related remedies.