The Indiana Supreme Court had argued that the Fourth Amendment should not apply to unlawful entry if done by a government employee. Specifically, "We believe however that a right to resist an unlawful police entry into a home is against public policy and is incompatible with modern Fourth Amendment jurisprudence." It also held that yelling at folks for unlawful entry is not protected speech, and thus also actionable. Obviously, if the Indiana Supreme Court "decline to recognize the right of a homeowner to reasonably resist unlawful entry", hitting someone for unlawful entry is also actionable.
http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/05121101shd.pdfGoodness. Mr Barnes may or may not have been an idiot. Hitting a cop, even if he or she is unlawfully in your property, is a good way to catch a beating or a projectile. Which is apparently exactly what happened, as he had an unfortunate "adverse reaction" to a taser and was hospitalized, according to the Indiana SC judgment.
My thoughts on the matter are exactly the same as the dissenting opinion. "In my view the majority sweeps with far too broad a brush by essentially telling Indiana citizens that government agents may now enter their homes illegally – that is, without the necessity of a warrant, consent, or exigent circumstances. And that their sole remedy is to seek refuge in the civil arena. I disagree and therefore respectfully dissent."
So, Indiana passed a law stating you CAN resist unlawful entry, even by government employees. Because the alternative was legally allowing unlawful entry without warrant, consent or exigent circumstances by government agents.
Naturally, the news uses slightly misleading headline. Shocking.
Seems much simpler to say "Uhm. Try not to unlawfully enter property, k? Because theoretically, folks always HAVE had the right to light up someone unlawfully entering their property. And it's now being actually codified as being okey." Course, I suspect people that do employ their rights under this law are not likely to make it to a trial except under extreme circumstances.