Don’t Let Rights-Violating Federal Agents Dodge Accountability
The good guys won a welcome victory at the U.S. Supreme Court last week when the justices ruled 9–0 that an innocent family’s lawsuit against the federal government over a wrong house raid may now proceed. At the same time, however, the ruling was a depressing reminder that all too many people face all too many legal obstacles when it comes to suing federal agents for misconduct.
Let’s start with the good news.
The case of Martin v. United States arose in 2017 when the FBI conducted a predawn raid on Curtrina Martin’s Georgia home. Except the agents were at the wrong house. They were supposed to be at a different address on a different block. Their search and arrest warrants were made out for 741 Landau Lane, the location of a suspected gang lair. Yet Martin lived on 756 Denville Trace. That glaring mistake by the federal officers led them to wreck Martin’s home and traumatize her family.
So, Martin sued for damage under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). But the lower court tossed out her civil suit, arguing that it was barred by the terms of the FTCA, which only permits such lawsuits under certain circumstances. The Supreme Court’s ruling last week in Martin v. U.S. said that the civil suit may in fact move forward under the FTCA, and sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings.
Writing in concurrence, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, provided the lower court with some guid
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