Well, hot diggety, y’all! How about ‘them’ apples! This time, I am stunned by the Supreme Court. They actually did the right thing! They did the RIGHT THING! Wow, wow, wow. I’m so happy I’m actually shaking. How in the h*ll I’m typing, I have no idea. Let’s go to a quote. From CNN, and remember, this is just the beginning of a *good* piece of news.
Curtrina Martin, her partner, and her then-7-year-old son were startled awake in 2017 when a six-agent SWAT team – believing that they were targeting the home of a gang member – smashed her front door with a battering ram, detonated a flash-bang grenade and rushed into their suburban Atlanta home.
At some point after Martin was dragged from the closet where she was hiding and held at gunpoint, agents realized they had the wrong house.
I can’t even imagine what they felt like. And did the SWAT team even apologize? I’ll bet they didn’t. Then, they left, and the family had no front door. NO FRONT DOOR. I would guess they had to pay for an emergency installation on top of the cost of the door. Sheesh! After being scared about to death, then, I would expect, angry as h*ll. What a thing to do to an innocent family!
“The Supreme Court was right to let the Martin family’s case move forward for the FBI’s botched raid of their home,” said Patrick Jaicomo, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, which had represented the family in the case. “The court’s decision today acknowledged how far the circuit courts have strayed from the purpose of the Federal Tort Claims Act, which is to ensure remedies to the victims of federal harms — intentional and negligent alike.”
The Atlanta-based 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals had sided with the government, holding that the Constitution’s supremacy clause barred tort claims against the federal government in circumstances where an official’s actions had “some nexus with furthering a federal policy” and could “reasonably be characterized” as within the range of federal law.
Reasonably be characterized *snort* yea, right. This was a *wrong house* raid. It wasn’t a drug dealer or armed criminal or whateverthehell the team would call it. This was an innocent family! The aftershocks were probably felt by the family for days, months, or even *years* afterwards. And their 7-year-old, yikes!
In a technical opinion, Gorsuch wrote that the court intended to “clear away the two faulty assumptions” the appeals court used to decide the case. One of those assumptions had actually worked in the family’s favor. Martin argued that a provision of the law that allows claims against the government for certain harms involving law enforcement should be read broadly enough to capture a wide number of harms.
The Institute for Justice argued that allowing courts to rely on the supremacy clause to shut down lawsuits would completely undermine the intent of Congress. Lawmakers strengthened the Federal Tort Claims Act following a pair of high-profile wrong-house raids in Collinsville, Illinois, in the early 1970s.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a member of the court’s liberal wing, wrote a concurring opinion stressing that Congress amended the law specifically in response to those raids. Court, she said, should not ignore the exception for law enforcement claims “or the factual context that inspired its passage.” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, another member of the court’s liberal wing, signed onto that opinion.
That link will show you folks more examples of wrong house raids. What the F, folks. WTF. This is terrifying because it means that it could happen to us! It could happen to someone we know. Yes, it can happen to anyone. Anyone. I’m darn near speechless. But I’m angry, too.
On the other side, yay for the Supreme Court and their unanimous decision. We all know how rare that is, and thank you to them for their unanimous decision earlier this year. I honestly don’t remember any unanimous decisions before those, so yes, we all know how rare they are. There may be some problems for the family moving forward due to a couple of things, so the full article with the particulars is here. Thanks for sticking with me!
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Zoomers, if you can help the Little Political Blog That Could keep trekking through cyberspace, we would appreciate it. My medical issues are still ongoing. I need to have a minor operation to remove a skin tumor. The hits just keep on coming, like a ’50s radio station. Thank you for all you do. Ursula
Ray…the character created in Mr. InBetween was talking to his young daughter who was being bullied at school. He explained not everyone is going to like you, and you should respect people who respect you. If they don’t and you continue to treat them with respect, you BECOME A DOORMAT. When they don’t…then it’s time to make them fear you. That’s the lesson the Democrats need to learn. It kept me alive in the penitentiary. There, as Ray also noted, there are consequences for disrespecting someone…you will be beaten, possibly raped and killed. If you are disrespected, time to make someone afraid, and pay for their transgression. Fact. If you don’t, your ass and life will be a target for every bully in the joint. All you so called ‘reasonable’ people are just lambs for the slaughter. You don’t believe in good violence…like the kind that saved your ancestors and your ass 1941-1945. Why? Because you live in fear. Grow the phuck up. This is a goddamn war. Either conduct your resistance or give the phuck up.
Resistance is NOT futile. Correct? *I* and my husband certainly are NOT giving up.
Good news indeed! We recently had a similar case here in Texas. I don’t remember which city it happened in the Dallas – Ft Worth area. A woman had just finished remodeling a house in preparation to list it for sale, when the police broke into to the overhead garage door and did much damage to her house. Once again, it was a mistaken address. A court (maybe the Texas Supreme court) decided the city and police department owed her some money.
Well, that one came out okay, fortunately, and I’m glad to hear it! Thank you 🙂
Reminds me of the movie “Brazil” from Python Terry Gilliam.
The cops break into a house and grab a guy for questioning.
The guy dies of a heart attack during interrogation.
Turned out they grabbed the wrong guy and in their defense of him dying, the bureaucrat presenting the reimbursement check for the hole they cut in the roof to repel down and grab him, states that they weren’t at fault for killing him as the guy they thought they were interrogating had no record of heart issues.
Life imitates black comedy.
Oh, my goodness, I haven’t seen that movie for YEARS. Wow!