SCOTUS considers Wrong House Raid lawsuit today

Been meaning to post this. Today the Supreme Court will decide if a lawsuit against the FBI can move forward. As many know, there's quite a bit of immunity for the feds. The vast majority of times, if not everytime, if the feds show up to the wrong address, on the wrong street, and bust your front door off the hinges and hold your family, including your children, at gunpoint, you are basically on your own. The will not repair the damage to the door or damage from flashbangs and tear gas. Sometimes you will get an apology at most, many times not even that.

Supreme Court considers lawsuit arising from 'wrong house' FBI raid

WASHINGTON — When Toi Cliatt heard a loud bang in his Atlanta home in the early hours of Oct. 18, 2017, his first instinct was to grab the shotgun he kept stored in a closet to defend himself from intruders. Luckily for him, he hesitated.

His instinct was correct. It turned out that the people entering the house were FBI agents with flash-bang grenades and guns drawn.

The problem was they had raided the wrong house. Cliatt, his then-girlfriend Trina Martin and her 7-year-old son Gabe Watson were entirely innocent victims. And a case stemming from the incident is still winding its way through the justice system nearly eight years later, with the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments on Tuesday.

Cliatt was handcuffed and thrown on the floor with guns pointed at his head. Martin wanted to rush to her son but wasn't allowed to move. Watson woke up abruptly to see agents with guns in his bedroom.

 

Video:


Still image taken from the Atlanta wrong house raid showing the wrong address on the mailbox:

 

I agree that limiting damages to only property and medical bills doesn't sound right. Many of these wrong house raids happen to families with children in the house. The Atlanta raid involved a 7 year old. He wanted to be a police officer when he grew up but that's no longer the case. I can't imagine the lasting impact of having your door busted off the hinges, flashbangs going off in your house, seeing your parents held at gunpoint, etc. That deserves compensation. Especially when you are a block away but none of the dozens of officers can figure it out. Once again, letter carries do a better job than police officers.

The Atlanta case happened 7 years ago. The district Judge and 11th Circuit have both ruled for the FBI.

Another issue with these wrong house raids is the continuing militarization of police. The more they get kitted out and trained line they are kicking doors in Faluja, the more you see people being killed by these "warriors." Recently, an elderly man was killed when his house (the wrong house) was raided and he grabbed a gun because he thought he was being robbed. A raid because someone stole the weedeater of someone important in the city. I was going to add it to the cops thread but it isn't really getting any attention anymore. I have several wrong house riads in familiar with, one of which is actually in that thread. Cops raided her house, handcuffed her while topless, while they searched her house. She spent way too long topless while men went through he house.

Another issue is when they find out they are at the wrong house, they still keep searching for whatever reason. They may have an arrest warrant for a person, but continue looking in places that no person could be, in kitchen drawers, shoeboxes, etc, even after they know they are at the wrong house.

 

Q) Who in their right mind would say the govt shouldn’t reimburse/compensate for physical damages???

A) The government.

 

Lot's of info here on insurance:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/inve...lice-misconduct-insurance-settlements-reform/

Across the country, allegations over police conduct are often settled by departments at taxpayers’ expense: A Post investigation in March documented more than $3.2 billion spent over the past decade to resolve nearly 40,000 claims at 25 of the nation’s largest police and sheriff’s departments.

 

I've been a fan of officers having to carry their own insurance. Start out super small, but make it considerably more expensive the more you mess up.

Maybe that officer that shot that woman in the face over the pot of boiling water wouldn't have been a cop at the time because it was prohibitively expensive to carry insurance after being fired from what, like 5 or 6 departments in just a few years time span. That woman would still be alive and that cop would be off the streets.

 

Can't embed the video but here's a link to live oral arguments.

https://www.youtube.com/live/BbbMukW_Nkc?si=E8XwIoYAdGzMPgxd