Innocent Property Owners Deserve 'Just Compensation' When Cops Wreck Their Homes or Businesses |
Property Rights
Innocent Property Owners Deserve 'Just Compensation' When Cops Wreck Their Homes or Businesses
Two petitions ask the Supreme Court to uphold the remedy required by the Fifth Amendment.
Jacob Sullum | 4.8.2026 12:01 AM
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Carlos Pena and Amy Hadley (Institute for Justice)
In 2022, police caused extensive damage to Amy Hadley's home in South Bend, Indiana, because they mistakenly believed a fugitive was inside the house. That same year, a Los Angeles SWAT team wrecked Carlos Pena's print shop while trying to arrest a fugitive who had barricaded himself inside.
Through no fault of their own, Hadley and Pena were stuck with the tab for the havoc wrought by police operations—a plainly unfair but increasingly common situation that could be rectified by the "just compensation" that the Fifth Amendment requires when property is "taken for public use." In petitions filed this week, Hadley and Pena are asking the Supreme Court to recognize that remedy.
On a Friday afternoon in June 2022, according to Hadley's petition, city and county police looking for "a dangerous fugitive" surrounded her home. They had erroneously concluded, "based on an IP address," that the........