Georgia Supreme Court rules police must compensate hemp farmer for destroyed crops
The Georgia Supreme Court overturned prior precedent, allowing licensed hemp grower Blue 42 Organics to seek compensation after state police destroyed $37,000 worth of hemp in a 2021 drug-suppression exercise.
In July 2021, the Georgia Department of Public Safety conducted a low-altitude aerial operation that destroyed approximately $37,000 of hemp crops belonging to Blue 42 Organics, a fully licensed grower registered with both state and federal agriculture agencies. The farmer's lawsuit was initially thrown out by a trial court, which relied on longstanding case law that government actions exercised under police power are exempt from the Just Compensation Clause of the Georgia Constitution.
The Georgia Supreme Court, however, unanimously rejected that doctrine, emphasizing that the constitutional guarantee would be hollow if the state could evade compensation by merely invoking police power. The justices overturned the 1966 McCoy v. Sanders precedent, which had allowed damage caused during a police search to go uncompensated. While affirming two narrow categories—nuisance abatement and urgent necessity—the court opened the door for broader compensation claims. The decision aligns with similar disputes across the United States, where property owners in Indiana, California, and Texas have also been denied compensation after law-enforcement actions, matters now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
