9th Circuit Rules Kate Steinle’s Parents Can’t Sue Sanctuary City Over Negligence

A photograph of murder victim Kate Steinle is placed on an easel as her father Jim Steinle (2nd L) prepares to testify about her murder during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on immigration enforcement policies, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 21, 2015. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO—The parents of a woman killed by an illegal alien who was released from custody despite a federal request that he be held cannot sue San Francisco for negligence over the death that touched off a fierce national debate, a U.S. appeals court ruled.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, March 25, unanimously refused to reinstate a lawsuit the parents of Kate Steinle filed against San Francisco and its former sheriff, Ross Mirkarimi, in the July 2015 shooting by Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate.