Supreme Court sends Atlanta family's lawsuit against FBI back to lower court for more review
Supreme Court sends Atlanta family's lawsuit against FBI back to lower court for more review
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Can FBI be sued if agents raid wrong house? Supreme Court to weigh in.
Trina Martin, son Gabe Watson and partner Toi Cliatt seek compensation after their house was mistakenly raided by the FBI.
WASHINGTON − The Supreme Court sent a case involving an Atlanta family seeking to sue the FBI for raiding their house back to a lower court for more consideration, but left unresolved the broader question of how much protection from lawsuits the courts should give law enforcement officers mistakes on the job.
Trina Martin, her son Gabe and her partner Toi Cliatt awoke one morning in October 2017 to what she called the 'monstrous noise' of a half-dozen FBI agents barging into their home with guns drawn. But the Special Weapons and Tactics team was at the wrong home, 436 feet from a similar beige, split-level house where a suspected gang member lived.
Federal courts dismissed the family's lawsuit for compensation over the mistake by ruling courts shouldn't second-guess law enforcement officers.
The Supreme Court unanimously overturned the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissal of the case on June 12.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court that there are several exceptions to whether law enforcement officers can be sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act and the appeals court should review them again.
Martin, her son who was 7 years old at the time of the raid, and Cliatt each feared they could be killed when the SWAT team burst noisily into their house. The ordeal lasted about five minutes before the FBI agents realized their mistake and headed out to the correct house.
The FBI agents described their meticulous planning to search the house by locating it with GPS during daylight, taking pictures and drawing up a tactical plan.
Congress changed the Federal Tort Claims Act in 1974 to allow lawsuits against law enforcement after two wrong-house raids the year before. But the government argued that judges shouldn't second-guess agents doing their jobs. A District Court and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case by finding the agents were immune.
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