Immunity and Accountability Cases
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Chicago Homeowner Sues After Warrantless Raid by Federal Agents
When federal agents ransack an innocent homeowner’s private property without a warrant, it’s a clear violation of the Constitution, and there must be a way to hold them accountable.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Long Island Man Fights for His Day in Court
An experienced electrician was badly shocked due to a government employee's mistake. Now, he's fighting for his day in court.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Atlanta Woman Sues Officers, U.S. Government for Wrongly Raiding Her Home in Search of Man Already in Jail
More than a dozen heavily armed law enforcement officers stormed Cathy George's apartment, looking for a fugitive who had no connection to Cathy and who was already in custody.
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Portland Family Files Lawsuit After SWAT Team Arrested Innocent 16-Year-Old at Gunpoint
Parents sue after a SWAT team detained their innocent 16-year-old son at gunpoint as he walked to lunch.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Dallas Bar Owner Asks Supreme Court to Let His Suit Over Bogus Prosecution Move Forward
A Dallas bar owner asks the Supreme Court to deny immunity to the police detective who led a bogus investigation against him.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
US Citizen and Army Veteran George Retes Sues Over Unconstitutional Immigration Detention
George Retes, a U.S. citizen and Iraq War veteran, was detained for three days after encountering an ICE roadblock on his way to work.
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
U.S. Citizen Demands End to Unconstitutional Raids and Detentions
A U.S. citizen, who was wrongly detained twice, is suing to stop unconstitutional raids on private construction sites.
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Woman Traumatized by False Arrest Sues US Marshals
Penny McCarthy was mistaken for another woman and violently arrested by armed U.S. Marshals. She is suing over the violation of her Fourth Amendment rights.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Federal lawsuit seeks to revive the Fourth Amendment's requirements for warrants
The Fourth Amendment requires that warrants be supported by "oath or affirmation" but that requirement means almost nothing today because of a decades old Supreme Court decision. Michael Mendenhall's case could revive the original meaning and protect people from unreasonable searches.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | Rule of Law | SWAT Destruction
Innocent Family Seeks to Hold SWAT Team Accountable for Raiding the Wrong Home
A North Carolina family is seeking to hold SWAT teams accountable for raiding the wrong home in April 2024.
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability
Smalltown Newspaper Punished for its Reporting Fights for the First Amendment
Four residents of a small Alabama county were targeted for retaliation by a district attorney and sheriff. Now, they are suing with IJ to protect their constitutional rights.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
The FBI Raided the Wrong Home—the Government Refuses to Pay for the Damage
FBI agents raided the wrong home in suburban Atlanta. Now the federal government refuses to compensate the victims even though Congress passed a law permitting suits for damages caused by federal employees.
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Woman Seeks to Hold Police Accountable for Mistaken Identity Arrest
An innocent Texas woman was arrested in a case of mistaken identity while getting off a cruise in 2022. Now, she's suing Broward County for the unconstitutional arrest.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
New petition asks Supreme Court to let woman’s suit against her abuser’s enabler move forward after nearly a decade in court.
Desiree Martinez bravely reported to the police the abuse she had suffered at the hands of her boyfriend, Kyle Pennington. But Pennington was a police officer, and came from a family…
Immunity and Accountability | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Courts Say City Owes Her Over $200,000; But Now She Has to Sue Again to Get Paid
Courts say Okay, Oklahoma owes Melisa Robinson for damaging her property. But the city won't pay. That violates her Fifth Amendment right to just compensation.
First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Murphy v. Schmitt
Have you ever heard of someone being arrested and sent to jail for walking on the wrong side of the road? Probably not — because police officers never, or almost never,…
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability
Lawsuit Seeks Accountability for Unconstitutional Raid of a Political Opponent’s Home
Kansas police raided the home of a city councilwoman and seized her phone and computer in retaliation for her criticism of local officials.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Family seeks to hold officer accountable after he led SWAT raid at wrong house
Everyone who visits a home for the first time—including delivery drivers, plumbers, and Girl Scouts—knows that you have to make sure you have the right address before barging in. Somehow, Waxahachie Police Department (WPD) Lieutenant Mike Lewis didn’t get the memo. In the dead of night, Lewis directed a heavily armed SWAT team to storm a home in which the innocent Karen Jimerson was getting ready for bed while her loved ones slept.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Virginia food truck owners file federal lawsuit after raging town councilmember damaged truck, town council repeatedly harassed them
Theslet Benoir and Clemene Bastien are a married couple that immigrated to the United States from Haiti in 2005. They received asylum, settled in Parksley, Virginia, and opened a brick-and-mortar store that caters to the needs of the Eastern Shore’s Haitian population. But the town repeatedly harassed them, so they teamed up with IJ to file a federal lawsuit.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | Rule of Law | SWAT Destruction
A Police Raid Wrecked Her Home; Now a South Bend Mom Fights for Compensation
In South Bend, a SWAT team raided the wrong home, leaving a single mom with thousands of dollars in damage not covered by insurance. She is suing for compensation.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | Rule of Law | SWAT Destruction
Tennessee Couple Fights for Compensation After SWAT Team Destroys Their Home
Who pays when the government destroys private property for a public purpose, such as getting a fugitive off the streets? The answer should be clear: if the government breaks it, the…
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Mother asks Supreme Court to hear case challenging immunity for school officials who abused her daughter
A New Orleans-area mother of a young girl is asking the United States Supreme Court to hear her case challenging a lower court’s decision to shield all violence by public-school officials from constitutional review. In 2020, Sonia Book’s daughter (who has nonverbal autism and is identified in the case as S.B.) was physically abused at least three times by her special-needs teachers in the classroom.
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability
Lawsuit Seeks Accountability for Unconstitutional Silencing and Arrest During City Council Meeting
A Newton, Iowa, man was arrested twice at city council meetings for criticizing local officials, so he sued to vindicate his First Amendment rights.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Innocent Security Deposit Box Renters Demand FBI Return Missing Property
After giving up on using civil forfeiture to claim their safe deposit boxes, the FBI did not return all of Don, Jeni, and Michael's property. They are suing to get their missing coins and cash returned to them.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Task-Force Immunity and Accountability
Can a local police officer launder her lies and deceit through a state-federal task force to hide behind absolute federal immunity? IJ doesn’t think so, but with the help of the…
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Louisiana Inmate Held 525 Days Past His Release Seeks Justice
Percy Taylor was kept in a Louisiana prison 525 days past his release date. He is not alone in being held beyond his sentence in a Louisiana detention facility. In January…
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | Rule of Law | SWAT Destruction
Innocent Small Business Owner Seeks Compensation After Shop Destroyed by SWAT Team
For thirty years, Carlos Pena ran a print shop in North Hollywood. His world was turned upside down, however, in August 2022, when a fugitive forced his way into Carlos’s shop and barricaded himself inside and a SWAT team destroyed his shop.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
DeVillier v. Texas
Victory! In April 2024, the Supreme Court vacated the Fifth Circuit decision and ruled the DeVillier family can sue Texas for flooding caused by the state. Richie DeVillier lives on the…
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability
Wayne County Seized His Car Without Evidence. When He Spoke Out, They Filed Criminal Charges to Silence Him.
Wayne County prosecutors retaliated against Robert Reeves for joining a lawsuit challenging the county's civil forfeiture program.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Group of immigrant nurses ask Supreme Court to hear case against prosecutor who brought bogus claims against them
A group of immigrant nurses whom rogue prosecutors tried to subject to indentured servitude, and their attorney who was criminally charged for providing legal advice, asked the United States Supreme Court…