It’s not easy to bring such cases. That’s because the federal government is generally immune from being sued, except in certain circumstances set out by Congress.
The Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday in a case testing what recourse victims have when federal officers wrongly invade their homes.
At issue is what law enforcement refers to as « wrong-house raids. » Local, state, or, as in the case before the court, federal officers smash into a private home to find a suspect, but it’s the wrong house. That’s what happened in the middle of an October night in 2017, when Trina Martin, her 7-year-old son Gabe, and Trina’s partner, Toi Cliatt, were asleep in their Atlanta home when they heard a loud bang.
A team of FBI and SWAT agents had used a grenade to blast open their front door. The agents were serving an arrest warrant for a neighbor accused of gang activity. The problem was, they had the wrong house.
Inside the house, Martin, her son, and her partner were terrified, she recalled to NPR. « Why would [SWAT] be here? » she remembered thinking. « We’re just regular people. »
Armed law enforcement officials charged up the stairs, eventually handcuffing Cliatt and leaving Martin in the bedroom, unable to reach Gabe, who was hiding under the covers.
« It’s just so, so loud … I’m crying … I’m calling for my mom … I was on my own, and I had no clue what to do », Gabe said.
Officers pointed guns at the three, separating them from one another, and after a disputed period of time, the agents realized they were in the wrong house, and left.
