In the News

The Eleventh Circuit ruled that a Georgia man can sue probation officers for malicious prosecution after they erroneously sought his arrest and jailed him for 104 days despite his full compliance with court-ordered banishment from five southern Georgia counties. Mitchell Shapiro Greenamyre & Funt LLP secured this significant civil rights victory, with the court finding a clearly established constitutional violation and denying qualified immunity to the officers.

Mitchell Shapiro Greenamyre & Funt LLP was recognized as a Law360 Legal Lion for their role in representing a Georgia family in Martin v. United States, where the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Constitution’s supremacy clause cannot shield the federal government from Federal Tort Claims Act suits following a mistaken FBI raid. The decision revived the family’s claim after FBI agents wrongly raided their Atlanta home in 2017, mistaking it for a gang member’s residence and traumatizing the occupants including a 7-year-old child.

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that MSGF LLP’s client—a Georgia family whose home was wrongly raided by the FBI—can proceed with their lawsuit against the federal government. The decision signals a major step toward accountability for federal agents in mistaken raids.

In a 9–0 decision, the Supreme Court revived MSGF LLP’s client’s lawsuit after FBI agents raided the wrong home with guns drawn and a flash-bang grenade. The ruling allows the family to challenge the government’s claim of immunity and pursue justice for the botched operation.

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled to remand a federal tort claims case involving a woman whose family was subjected to a predawn FBI raid at the wrong house in 2017, with agents confusing her Atlanta-area home with that of a suspected gang member. Mitchell Shapiro Greenamyre & Funt LLP represented the plaintiff in this significant civil rights case, which clarified important issues under the Federal Tort Claims Act and was sent back to the Eleventh Circuit for further examination.

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously revived an Atlanta family’s lawsuit against the federal government over a botched 2017 predawn FBI raid on their home, where agents mistakenly targeted their house instead of an alleged gang member’s residence a block away. Mitchell Shapiro Greenamyre & Funt LLP represents the Martin family in this significant civil rights case that could have broad implications for federal law enforcement accountability and the Federal Tort Claims Act.

The Eleventh Circuit ruled that probation officers violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments when they recklessly swore false statements to obtain an arrest warrant for violating nonexistent probation conditions, resulting in 104 days of wrongful imprisonment. MSGF LLP argued successfully on behalf of the plaintiff in this significant civil rights case.

Mitchell Shapiro Greenamyre & Funt LLP is representing Avid Bookshop in a First Amendment lawsuit against Gwinnett County Jail’s mail policy that prevents the independent bookstore from sending books to inmates, highlighting the legal challenges in fighting for incarcerated people’s right to read.

After a wrongful arrest in a 2018 double murder case, the Atlanta City Council agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit for the man who spent over a year in jail. Mitchell Shapiro Greenamyre & Funt LLP represented the wrongfully accused man, with one of the firm’s attorneys commenting on how police “shoehorned everything” to implicate someone they knew was innocent.

A Georgia federal judge indicated that Woodbury’s disorderly conduct ordinance likely survives a constitutional challenge, representing a development in the ongoing First Amendment case. MSGF LLP represents the plaintiff challenging the city ordinance.