In April 2019, claimant Bryan Carmody, a veteran freelance reporter, was at his home in San Francisco when two San Francisco police officers arrived and asked him to reveal the source of a leaked police report concerning the death of a San Francisco public defender, Jeff Adachi. Carmody refused, but as the officers left, they allegedly told him that they would return with a federal grand jury search warrant. In the early morning hours of May 10, 2019, San Francisco police officers returned to Carmody’s home. The officers were equipped with a sledgehammer and a pickax, which they used to try to batter down Carmody’s front gate. Officers, with their guns drawn, placed Carmody in handcuffs. Carmody then remained handcuffed for nearly six hours while officers searched his home and office, and seized electronic devices and other materials. FBI agents also attempted to question Carmody, while he was handcuffed in his home, and repeatedly asked him to identify the source of his reporting on the circumstances of the death of Adachi. Months earlier, and unbeknownst to Carmody, the officers had secured warrants to obtain phone records, which revealed logs of calls and text messages that Carmody exchanged with everyone during a several month period, after his initial reporting about Adachi’s death. In August 2019, five warrants that authorized the searches were deemed illegal and were quashed by the same five judges who initially approved them. The warrant applications showed that the police did not inform the judges that Carmody had a valid press pass issued by the San Francisco Police Department. Carmody filed a claim against the officers’ employer, the city and county of San Francisco. He alleged that the officers violated his First Amendment rights; California’s “shield law,” which allows journalists to protect confidential sources and materials; and the Federal Privacy Act, which also protects journalists’ sources and newsgathering information., Carmody claimed that he suffered emotional distress as a result of the incident. Carmody sought recovery of damages for his emotional pain and suffering.