LISTEN: Supreme Court seems likely to rule narrowly in case over family wrongly raided by FBI

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seemed inclined to a narrow ruling on Tuesday in a law-enforcement accountability case over an FBI raid that targeted the wrong house.

Listen to the hearing in the player above.

While some justices appeared open to the argument that the family should be able to sue over the mistake that left them traumatized, the court seemed wary of handing down a more sweeping ruling on when the federal government can be held liable for law-enforcement decisions.

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The case was filed after FBI agents broke down Trina Martin’s door before dawn in 2017. They pointed guns at Martin and her then-boyfriend and terrified her 7-year-old son before realizing they were in the wrong place.

The FBI team quickly apologized and left, with the leader later saying that his personal GPS had led him to the wrong place.

The government says judges shouldn’t be second-guessing decisions made in the absence of a specific policy and Martin can’t sue over an honest mistake. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, tossing out the lawsuit in 2022.

Both liberal and conservative justices appeared skeptical of the government’s position in Martin’s case, with Justice Neil Gorsuch asking incredulously, “No policy says, ‘Don’t break down the door of the wrong house? Don’t traumatize its occupants?'”

Still, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was among those who suggested there could be some situations where law enforcement decisions should be shielded from liability, though “perhaps not here.”

The justices seemed to be leaning toward tossing out part of the 11th Circuit’s decision and sending it back for more litigation. A decision is expected around the end of June.

Public interest groups from across the political spectrum have urged the court to overturn the ruling, saying it differs from other courts around the country and its reasoning would severely narrow the legal path for people to try and hold federal law enforcement accountable in court.