South Bend Mom’s Fight for Compensation After Police Raid Moves Forward

SOUTH BEND, Ind.—Amy Hadley’s home in South Bend was raided by a police SWAT team in June 2022. Her home still bears the scars of the raid, but none of the governments involved paid for the damage. Amy sued for compensation last fall under the Indiana and U.S. Constitutions. Yesterday, a federal district court ruled that her claims under state law should move forward in state court but that the federal claims should be dismissed. The Institute for Justice (IJ), which protects property rights nationwide, will continue to litigate her case as it goes forward.

“Although the court did not recognize that police leaving Amy with the bill for damage they did violates the U.S. Constitution, the court was right to send Amy’s state claims back to the Indiana courts. We will continue to fight for compensation for Amy,” said IJ Attorney Marie Miller. “An innocent individual homeowner should not have to bear the cost of law enforcement action.”

A law enforcement officer believed that a fugitive was using social media from Amy’s home. Officers acquired a warrant for the home, surrounded it and called for everyone to come out. The only person home at the time was Amy’s teenage son.

While Amy and her son and daughter all insisted to the police that they had the wrong home, a SWAT team lobbed tear gas grenades through all 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. But St. Joseph County and South Bend have rejected Amy’s pleas for compensation.

“Nobody responsible for damaging my home has apologized or offered to pay for the damage,” said Amy. “I’m glad my case will go forward and hope a court will hold the local governments accountable.”

Amy is not the only innocent property owner to be left to pay for damage done by the government. IJ is currently appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of a Texas woman whose home was wrecked by a SWAT raid. IJ is also helping a Los Angeles printer whose equipment was destroyed after an LAPD raid and a Dallas area family whose home was mistakenly raided by federal deputies.