The Presbyterian Church (u.s.a.) v. The United States of America

The plaintiffs in this action are Alzona Evangelical Lutheran Church, Camelback United Presbyterian Church, Southside United Presbyterian Church, Sunrise United Presbyterian Church, and their two national parent denominations, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the American Lutheran Church (hereafter referred to collectively as “the churches”). The churches brought this action against the United States, the Department of Justice, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) ancj several individual INS officers, claiming that the churches’ First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated when INS agents entered the churches wearing “body bugs” and surreptitiously recorded church services. The district court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss on a variety of grounds. We affirm in part and reverse in part, and remand to the district court with instructions to consider, in light of this opinion, whether the churches retain standing to pursue their claims and whether their claims are moot.

I

BACKGROUND

In early 1984, the INS initiated an undercover investigation of the sanctuary movement, an effort by a loosely knit group of clergy and lay people to aid refugees from…