South Bend Mom Will Keep Fighting for Compensation after Wrong House Raid

ARLINGTON, Va.—Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal constitution does not require the government to compensate a South Bend family for the damage done to their home by a police SWAT team in June 2022. Amy Hadley, represented by the Institute for Justice (IJ), will ask the full court of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review this decision while continuing to also seek compensation in state courts under the Indiana Constitution.

“The panel decided it was bound to deny compensation under a prior court decision, which held that no compensation is required for damage by police,” said IJ Attorney Marie Miller. “That prior decision is wrong. So we will ask the whole court to overturn it. Innocent people like Amy and her family should not have to bear the costs of destructive police errors.”

Police wrongly believed a fugitive had been using his social media account from the Hadley’s home. While Amy and her son and daughter all insisted to the police that they had the wrong place, a SWAT team lobbed tear gas grenades through the windows and ransacked the house. Amy’s home insurance covered only part of the costs of the damage done to her home and possessions. And St. Joseph County and the city of South Bend have rejected Amy’s pleas for compensation.