The Federal Tort Claims Act enables individuals to hold the FBI accountable for assault, battery, and false imprisonment during “wrong house raids.” The Martin family had been subjected to the horrors of such a raid on their home in Atlanta in 2017, yet were prevented from pursuing their claim against the FBI by the lower courts due to a reflexive belief in the “discretionary function exception” for law enforcement which shields them from liability. The Supreme Court, however, delivered a unanimous ruling today allowing the Martin family to press their case in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Justice Gorsuch wrote the opinion of the Court thus:
We readily acknowledge that different lower courts have taken different views of the discretionary function exception...We acknowledge, too, that important questions surround whether and under what circumstances that exception may ever foreclose a suit like this one. As cited in www.nbcnews.com/...
The Martin case was notable for the level of brutality experienced by this innocent family. FBI agents broke down their front door with guns drawn and deployed flash-bang grenades in search of a criminal living at a different address. After cuffing the parents and pointing their weapons at their seven-year-old son, the FBI finally realized that they were in the wrong house. The house was damaged and the family suffered from PTSD. In a concurring opinion written by Justice Sotomayor and joined by Justice Jackson, both justices wrote, “There is a reason to think that the discretionary function exception should not bar the plaintiffs' claims.” To wit, www.nbcnews.com/…
This is an important ruling from the Supreme Court at a time when the coercive instruments of state have been emboldened by the Dictator in the White House to run roughshod over the Constitutional rights of the people. The Due Process rights of the people have been routinely violated and the FBI, DHS, and ICE have illegally entered homes and terrorized residents with impunity. This ruling buttresses the Federal Tort Claims Act and provides an avenue for redress.
