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Dear Mr. xxxxxx:

IJ just scored two wins in long-running fights for justice and accountability.

At the end of last week, a judge ruled that wholly innocent property owner Vicki Baker is entitled to $59,656.59 (plus interest!) after a SWAT team destroyed her McKinney, Texas, home while pursuing a fugitive who hid inside.

You may remember this case: Neither the city nor Vicki’s insurance would pay for the damage, and courts have for too long let governments off the hook for property damage caused by police actions. In 2022, IJ scored a pathbreaking win when a federal district court said Vicki was entitled to compensation under the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment, which, as you know, guarantees just compensation when the government takes or destroys your property for a public use.

An appeals court overturned that win, though, so we continued fighting for Vicki under the Texas Constitution. (Our ultimate goal is to get the vital issue of compensation for police damage before the U.S. Supreme Court.) But in the meantime, last week, a judge reentered judgment for Vicki under the state constitution, who will now finally be made whole.

Then, just yesterday, IJ scored a rare win against prosecutorial immunity. In 2019, Detroit police seized Robert Reeves' 1991 Chevy Camaro without charging Robert with any crime. This was part of a pattern: Wayne County law enforcement routinely seized cars from innocent motorists and kept them using civil forfeiture. So, Robert joined IJ’s class action lawsuit against this blatant policing-for-profit scheme.

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IJ clients Vicki Baker and Robert Reeves just scored wins in long-running fights for justice.

Within two weeks of the suit, prosecutors retaliated against Robert to try and prevent him from being part of IJ’s case. Twice they filed bogus felony charges, and twice a judge dismissed the charges for lack of evidence.

Challenging retaliatory prosecution is close to impossible under current law, because courts have given prosecutors near absolute immunity from suit. We knew that a lawsuit against Robert’s prosecution would be one of our hardest cases. But IJ has a zero-tolerance policy for harassment of our clients, and we want to fundamentally change the law on prosecutorial immunity, so we sued. On Monday, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the prosecutor who brought charges against Robert was not protected by prosecutorial immunity.

This win means we can continue seeking justice for Robert. Above all, it puts governments on notice that we will not let them retaliate against our clients.

Because of our generous supporters, IJ can fight for our clients no matter how long their cases take—and no matter what dirty tricks our opponents try. Add your support today. ([link removed] )

Scott

Scott G. Bullock

President and Chief Counsel

Institute for Justice

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