“But I’m curious: what do *you* think the consequences should be for a “wrong” police invasion of an innocent person’s home? Anything at all?”
Well...since I don’t consider all .00001% of these incidents to which you refer to be done by someone who is evil...it would have to be judged case by case. If a cop is accidentally sent to the wrong address, though, and you blow him up, did you just kill an innocent man?
>> all .00001% of these incidents
That’s one “wrong” police home invasion in 1,000,000.
Did you make that number up, or do you have some evidence that your statement is correct?
It sounds low to me.
>> If a cop is accidentally sent to the wrong address, though, and you blow him up, did you just kill an innocent man?
Yes, “you” did kill an innocent man.
But that doesn’t mean the dead cop’s blood is on “your” hands. In other words, “you” are innocent also.
Whoever SENT the innocent cop is guilty of his blood, and should be punished. Whether it be lying informer, incompetent/evil cop/judge, whatever...
But since you broached the hypothetical, let’s carry it a little further.
If this sort of police behavior is continually “rewarded” because there are NO consequences, we’ll get more of it.
If cops — even innocent ones — who pull this stuff are at risk of getting blown away, then you can bet your booty they’ll be VERY careful before going on a “play army” mission. Every cop whose butt is on the line will DEMAND an audit of the facts of the case before putting their neck on the line.
Which brings me back to the original question: what do you think the consequences ought to be, if not risk of death? You sidestepped my question.
For me, a “wrong address” home invasion should be punishable by:
a) Loss of job
b) Loss of ALL pension and benefits
c) Felony charges, with “swatting the wrong address” being prima facie evidence of guilt
c) INDIVIDUAL (not employer) liability to civil lawsuit
...then I’d say that would have the same deterrent effect as being able to shoot a rogue home invader.
But my guess is, you’d argue just as vociferously against an Indiana law that guaranteed the above as you are now against the current Indiana law.