Supreme Court revives lawsuit from Atlanta family whose home was wrongly raided by the FBI
Supreme Court revives lawsuit from Atlanta family whose home was wrongly raided by the FBI
WASHINGTON (AP) — An Atlanta family whose home was wrongly raided by the FBI will get a new day in court, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday.
The opinion comes after a predawn 2017 raid in which an armed FBI SWAT team smashed in a front door and set off a flashbang grenade, pointing guns at a couple and terrifying a 7-year-old boy before realizing they were in the wrong house.
The FBI team quickly apologized and left for the right place, with the team leader later saying that his personal GPS device had led him to the wrong address. But Trina Martin and her then-boyfriend, Toi Cliatt, and her son were left with lasting trauma and a damaged home.
Martin and Cliatt filed a lawsuit against the federal government accusing the agents of assault and battery, false arrest and other violations. While the government is typically immune from lawsuits, they are allowed in some cases. Martin and Cliatt’s lawyers argued that Congress clearly intended to allow lawsuits over wrong-house raids after a pair of them made headlines in the 1970s.
But lower courts tossed out the case.
Public interest groups from across the political spectrum urged the justices to overturn the ruling, saying it severely narrows the legal path for people to file law enforcement accountability cases against the federal government.
The high court found the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong to toss out the case based in part on the Supremacy Clause, which says federal laws take precedence over state laws.
The federal law at the center of this case actually refers back to state statute, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote. While the government is typically immune from lawsuits, the law allows those claims in some situations that would create liability under state law.
That means there’s no need to involve on the Supremacy Clause, and the case should move forward, the justices said.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.
By LINDSAY WHITEHURST
Associated Press
