I normally shun the CATO Institute--in my opinion, Libertarianism in general gets far too many things wrong and its prominent think tanks and scholarly advocates are usually far too biased in their opinions and use of facts. But today I'm linking directly to CATO. This map is a listing of various "botched paramilitary police raids" around the US in relatively recent years (some go back to the 80s). Most of them appear to be drug-related busts, though I've only skimmed the map so far.

Prison brutality was a topic of a recent post here at The Agonist. Reading about some of the raids on this map just reinforces the general point made in that post. Here are a few terrible excerpts:

Donald Scott.

In an early morning drug raid on October 2, 1992, 31 officers from five police agencies break down the door to the multimillion dollar home of Donald Scott.

Frightened, Scott's wife screams, "Don't shoot me. Don't kill me." Hearing his wife's screams, Scott emerges from his bedroom holding a handgun, still groggy from a recent cataract operation. When Scott raises the gun in the direction of the police intruders, the raiding officers shoot him dead.

Despite assurances from the L.A. Sheriff's Department that Scott was farming more than 4,000 marijuana plants on his property, thorough search of Scott's property fails to yield any contraband. In fact, Scott's friends would later say he was adamantly opposed to illicit drugs.

...

According to an L.A. deputy district attorney at the time, two of the agents conducting the raid posed for a triumphant photograph after Scott was shot and killed.

Or how about this one:

The Jerome, Arizona Raid.

In October 1985, a massive team of nearly 100 federal narcotics agents storm a town of just 460 people on a predawn massive marijuana sweep. According to residents, women and children are dragged out of their beds as police break down doors to search homes.

Police seize dozens of pounds of marijuana from the town many describe as an outpost for "hippies."

Next:

Andrea Baker, Erik Kush, Julie Madrigal.

Police conduct a massively armed raid on a home they suspect contains illegal assault weapons and ammunition. In a densely-populated, upscale neighborhood, a SWAT team from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department, complete with an armored personnel carrier, uses grenade launchers to fire at least four rounds of tear gas into the windows of the home. The quarter-million dollar home catches fire shortly after officers enter.

As the homeowners evacuate, police officers chase the family's 10-month-old pit bull puppy back into the burning house with puffs from a fire extinguisher. The dog perishes in the flames. Police allegedly laugh at Andrea Baker, the dog's owner, as she cries at their cruelty.

Later, the brakes fail on the SWAT team's armored personnel carrier, causing it to lurch down the street and smash into a parked car. The car's owner, Julie Madrigal, had fled the car just moments earlier with her nine-year-old daughter after the two grew frightened by the firing of tear gas canisters by SWAT officers.

The home is completely destroyed. Nearby homes are also put at risk. Police find no assault weapons, only an antique shotgun and a nine-millimeter pistol, both of which are legally owned. Nevertheless, police arrest 26-year-old Erik Kush on outstanding traffic violations.

And finally:

Thomas Spear.

A Las Vegas SWAT team deploys a flashbang grenade and breaks through the glass patio door of Thomas Spear, a 25-year Air Force veteran. Officers handcuff Spear and drag him across the shards of glass while yelling obscenities at him.

The SWAT team believed Spear was about to commit suicide. Spears was actually recovering from brain surgery, was partially paralyzed, and had fallen asleep after taking an extra dose of anti-seizure medication.

Spears had broken no laws. After the raid, the Spears were shunned by neighbors, and forced to move to another town. Spears said enduring the effects of the raid was worse than his illness. "It's much worse than being paralyzed on half your body," he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Now I'm aware that humans make mistakes, and that mistakes made by people with guns tend to be... tragic. That being said, the point here is that most (possibly all) of the cases highlighted on this map should never have happened. In a sane society, people's doors would not be knocked down, guns would not be drawn, SWAT teams would not be called in, jail time would not be served, and lives would not be lost because of a marijuana plant. But we aren't living in a sane society.

Go click around on the map. Scary as hell.