The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 25 declined to take up the appeal of a Texas woman whose home was damaged during a SWAT raid.
The decision came in the form of an unsigned order in Baker v. McKinney, Texas. The court did not explain the reasoning behind the order.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch concurred with dismissing the petition but expressed sympathy for the homeowner’s argument that governments shouldn’t be allowed “to destroy private property without paying just compensation.”
The case goes back to 2020, when Vicki Baker’s home was raided by police who were chasing Wesley Little, a fugitive who had kidnapped a 15-year-old girl. Little avoided police during a high-speed chase and arrived at Baker’s house with his hostage. Baker was preparing the house to be sold, according to a summary of the case in the order….