Latest news with #VickiBaker
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Yahoo
Texas woman, 81, awarded $60K after 5-year fight against ‘sovereign immunity' — what it could mean for others
A federal judge has ordered the city of McKinney to pay almost $60,000 plus interest to 81-year-old Vicki Baker. Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 6 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) Why the big payday? Baker's home was torn apart by a SWAT team during a 2020 police standoff. Baker took the city to court after her house became the battleground for a high-stakes manhunt, reported WFAA. McKinney police unleashed tear gas, explosives, and tactical vehicles on the property while chasing a fugitive who had barricaded himself inside. Insurance plans do not cover 'acts of the government' and the city refused to pay for the damage, so Vicki joined forces with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to file a lawsuit in March 2021. 'I've just learned that my battle with the city of McKinney is coming to an end,' Baker said in a statement on June 5. 'Judge Mazzant has, once again, ruled that I am due just compensation under the Texas Constitution.' According to the WFAA report, it all started on July 25, 2020, when Wesley Little, a man Baker had hired for repairs, broke into her home and held a teenager hostage. Baker was in Montana, but her daughter, who was living at the property, escaped and called 911. After Little released the teen but refused to surrender, a SWAT team fired roughly 30 tear gas canisters shattering windows, smashed doors, and tore down a fence with an armored vehicle. Once inside they found Little had died by suicide. The incident left more than $50,000 in damage to the house, according to Baker, with her insurance covering only the destruction caused by Little, not the police's tactical incursion. The city of McKinney initially refused to pay, citing sovereign immunity, a legal shield that often protects cities from liability unless waived or overturned by a judge. Baker, a cancer survivor who had recently invested $25,000 to ready her home for sale, didn't back down. 'It was more devastating because of everything that was happening to me at the time,' she said. 'I felt like this was a case that would help not just me, but a lot of people. That's why I wanted to fight.' With legal help from the Institute for Justice, Baker argued that the government's destruction amounted to an uncompensated taking of her property under both the U.S. and Texas Constitutions. 'It took five years, but Vicki is finally going to be made whole,' said Jeffrey Redfern, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice. 'She's fortunate that Texas has strong protections for private property rights, but people in much of the rest of the country aren't so lucky.' Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says — and that 'anyone' can do it There were many setbacks, including losing at the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court declining to hear the case, but a favorable ruling grounded in the Texas Constitution was ultimately handed down by U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant this month. WFAA has covered similar cases in Texas since 2020, highlighting the ongoing legal battle over police damage during raids, with cities repeatedly invoking sovereign immunity. Michael Lamson, a Houston trial lawyer, said to WFAA, "If you're taking their property and you're not paying them for it, you're doing a very good job as a government." Redfern reportedly pointed in court to a 1980 Texas Supreme Court ruling in Steele v. City of Houston, where the city was held liable after police allowed a home to burn following tear gas explosions, as a crucial precedent. McKinney officials stated they are 'evaluating options for appealing' the ruling. As for Baker, now living in Montana, she says the city's legal fees ended up being more than what it owed her. 'They have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees,' she said. 'And they could have gotten off with paying me $60,000.' In Texas and other states, sovereign immunity protects state agencies, counties, and cities. Sovereign immunity is meant to shield public agencies from endless lawsuits that could drain taxpayer dollars and gum up government operations. Unfortunately, this means when a homeowner sues a city for damage caused during police raids or other government actions, city governments can pull out the sovereign immunity card. The may ways this can hurt homeowners include: Limited legal recourse: Most can't sue cities for property damage unless there's a rare exception. Financial strain: Repairs from police or government damage can run tens of thousands of dollars. Legal fights: Challenging sovereign immunity is complex and expensive, and can be lengthy. Unfair burden: Citizens pay the price, while cities walk away free and clear. The Institute for Justice is taking on similar cases in California, Indiana and North Carolina awaits a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Martin v. United States, involving an FBI SWAT raid that damaged another family's home. For now, Baker's victory could become a powerful blueprint for others fighting back against government damage. Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now This tiny hot Costco item has skyrocketed 74% in price in under 2 years — but now the retail giant is restricting purchases. Here's how to buy the coveted asset in bulk Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Like what you read? Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise straight to your inbox every week. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SWAT Raid Fallout: McKinney Ordered To Compensate Homeowner
A ruling years in the making affirms property rights in a case previously reported by The Dallas Express. A federal judge has ordered the City of McKinney to pay nearly $60,000 in damages to a woman whose home was destroyed during a 2020 SWAT standoff—despite her having no connection to the fugitive inside. Vicki Baker, a cancer patient and retired grandmother, was preparing to relocate to Montana when police descended on her property. The SWAT team was pursuing her former handyman, who had barricaded himself inside her McKinney home. 'I told them, 'Please don't destroy my house,'' Baker recalled to NBC 5. They did anyway. What followed was a five-year legal battle in which the city refused to pay for the $60,000-plus in property damage, forcing Baker to dip into her retirement savings just to make the home livable again. With the help of the Institute for Justice, Baker took the city to court, arguing that government agents who destroy private property—regardless of motive—should be held financially accountable. 'We're trying to establish that even if the government is acting for a legitimate reason, they must compensate property owners for what they destroy,' said attorney Jeffrey Redfern. The city previously offered a partial settlement, but Baker refused, pushing for full compensation and a broader legal precedent. Last week, a federal judge agreed and ordered McKinney to pay $59,656.69. City officials told NBC 5 they are 'evaluating options for appealing the ruling.' Baker, now retired and living on Social Security, says she fought not just for herself but for others who might one day find themselves in her position. 'It was disastrous for me, but what if it were a single mom with no savings? Someone has to stand up,' she said. The ruling could signal a growing trend of courts reining in unchecked government immunity when innocent citizens bear the cost of public safety operations.
Fox News
11-06-2025
- Fox News
Judge rules in favor of Texas woman after SWAT destroyed her house while pursuing a fugitive
Five years after police destroyed cancer survivor Vicki Baker's house while pursuing a fugitive, a federal judge has ruled that the Texas city she used to call home must pay her for the damage. "I've continued fighting this long, because if this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone," Baker told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement. "This case has always been about more than the money for me. I want to see real change." Baker's ordeal started in July 2020, when she moved to Montana and was in the process of selling her home in McKinney, Texas. Wesley Little kidnapped a 15-year-old girl, fled from police and took refuge in Baker's home. Police surrounded the house and Little eventually released the teen but refused to surrender, according to court documents. A SWAT team tried to draw him out by launching a barrage of tear gas canisters at the house, shattering windows and punching holes in walls. When police finally entered the house, they discovered that Little had killed himself. Baker's daughter's Chihuahua was inside during the onslaught and was left blind, deaf and sick from the tear gas and explosions. The dog eventually had to be put down, Baker said. A hazmat crew disposed of almost everything inside the house because it was saturated with a toxic film from the teargas, according to court documents. Damage to the home totaled at least $50,000, according to Baker and her attorneys at the nonprofit civil liberties law firm Institute for Justice. But her insurance company refused to cover the bulk of the damage because her policy — like most — excludes damage caused by the government. Baker tried to file a property damage claim with the city of McKinney, but officials refused to pay, citing qualified immunity, a doctrine often used to shield police and other government agencies from being sued for violating people's rights or destroying property during the course of their work. The Institute for Justice sued under the Fifth Amendment and the Texas Constitution, arguing that police may have been authorized to seize Baker's home in the interest of pursuing a dangerous fugitive, but that they should have to pay her just like they would if the government seized a home to build a road or other infrastructure. A prolonged legal saga followed, with one federal judge ruling in 2022 that Baker should be compensated and a jury awarding her nearly $60,000 in damages. The following year, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed her Fifth Amendment win. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case last year, but Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch acknowledged the high court has yet to address whether the government can require individuals to bear the cost of police actions. Last week, a U.S. district court judge ruled again that Baker is entitled to $59,656.59 plus interest under the Texas Constitution. "This ruling makes it clear that the Texas Constitution's promise of just compensation applies when police destroy innocent people's property, and that this entire lawsuit could have been avoided if the city simply did the right thing in the first place," IJ attorney Jeffrey Redfern, who represented Baker, said in an emailed statement to Fox News Digital. The City of McKinney is "evaluating its options for appealing this ruling," a spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital. The city previously offered to pay the full amount of the damage to settle the case, but Baker's team says they refused to settle unless the city also changed its policies to protect all homeowners from similar actions in the future. Redfern said he still hopes the Supreme Court will hear a case similar to Baker's in the future so "we can ensure that the United States Constitution also protects innocent property owners in cases like this." "I want to make sure that cities around the country are doing the right thing and paying just compensation to people in similar situations," Baker said.
