Judge refuses city’s demands to dismiss claim
A Texas woman has won a round in her fight to force the city of McKinney, Texas, to be held accountable for the destruction of her home.
The Institute for Justice explained a federal judge ruled recently the lawsuit by Vicki Baker over the destruction of her residence by the city’s SWAT team can move forward.
“The court recognized that the city of McKinney is not exempt from the Constitution,” said IJ Attorney Jeffrey Redfern. “This is the first step towards Vicki getting her due, but it’s a big one. The government must compensate individuals when it deliberately destroys their property.”
In the decision, handed down by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Judge Amos Mazzant III threw out the city’s motion to dismiss the case.
“At the motion to dismiss stage, it would be imprudent to foreclose Baker’s ability to recover based on the shaky reasoning recited in non-binding cases from other circuits—especially when both the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court have alluded that a taking could result from destructive police power,” explained the judge.
The institute explained it was during July 2020 that police in the city were chasing a fugitive.