Special Weapons and Tactics | Season 3, Ep. 10
Podcast (bound-by-oath): Play in new window | Download
In 2020, a police SWAT team blew up Vicki Baker’s house after a fugitive barricaded himself inside. On this episode, we ask: who pays the tab when the government damages or destroys private property for the public good — the unlucky owner or the public as a whole?
Click here for episode transcript.
Recent Episodes
Trust But Verify | Season 3, Ep. 12

In 1973, federal narcotics agents raided a pair of homes in Collinsville, Illinois by mistake. They didn’t find any drugs, but they did terrorize two […]
Listen NowEverything You Eat, Drink, and Wear | Season 3, Ep. 11

Government officials must obtain a warrant before forcibly entering a home (absent consent or an emergency). That rule goes back to the Founding. But in […]
Listen NowPunishment Without Crime | Season 3, Ep. 9

Civil forfeiture is a civil rights nightmare, allowing police and prosecutors to seize billions of dollars’ worth of property annually—cash, cars, houses, bank accounts, and […]
Listen NowPublic Purpose | Season 3, Ep. 8

In 2005, in the case of Kelo v. New London, the Supreme Court allowed officials to seize and raze an entire neighborhood of well-maintained homes […]
Listen Now