In 1978, the owner of Blackie's House of Beef, Inc., brought two separate lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Immigration and Naturalization Service officials, challenging immigration raids at the restaurant. Blackie's was a restaurant and lounge Washington, D.C. In the first suit, Blackie's challenged the INS' use of a search warrant to search the place on March 30, 1978, and to remove Blackie's employees who were alleged undocumented aliens. Blackie's claimed that the warrant was facially defective because it called for a search for "property." The District Court (Judge Louis F. Oberdorfer) agreed and entered a declaratory judgment that the INS' entry and search of plaintiff's restaurant was unreasonable and unlawful. Blackie's House of Beef, Inc. v. Castillo, 467 F.Supp. 170 (D.D.C. 1978). ("Blackie's I").

In the second case, Blackie's challenged a search warrant executed on November 17, 1978, on the grounds that it failed to identify with sufficient particularity the allegedly deportable persons for whom INS officials were searching. The District Court (Judge Louis F. Oberdorfer) found the warrant to be defective and entered a declaratory judgment against the INS. Blackie's House of Beef, Inc. v. Castillo, 480 F.Supp. 1078 (D.D.C. 1979) ("Blackie's II").

The INS appealed both cases, which had been consolidated for purposes of appeal. The Court of Appeals (Circuit Judge McGowan) affirmed the judgment in "Blackie's I," but reversed in "Blackie's II." Blackie's House of Beef, Inc. v. Castillo, 659 F.2d 1211 (D.C.Cir. 1981), certiorari denied, Blackie's House of Beef, Inc. v. Castillo, 455 U.S. 940, 102 S.Ct. 1432, 71 L.Ed.2d 651 (1982).

Dan Dalton - 12/20/2007


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