General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFerguson slapped with $40 million civil rights lawsuit
http://wonkynewsnerd.com/ferguson-slapped-40-million-civil-rights-lawsuit/Matthews was shot with rubber bullets, had his face slammed into concrete and had his head pushed underwater to the point that he felt he was going to be drowned, he said. He was arrested on a charge of failure to disperse, although, he alleges, he had not been involved in any protests.
Coleman and Green were engaged in peaceful protests...regarding the shooting death of Michael Brown Jr., they said, when police in riot gear arrived and began firing tear gas at them. Coleman and Green were gassed and shot with rubber bullets, despite the fact that Coleman and Green got on their knees and presented no threat, they said. They were also arrested and charged with failure to disperse.
Kerry White was filming the protests in Ferguson when police officers took his camera, removed his memory card and threw it on the ground, he said. He was arrested and charged with failure to disperse, even though no basis at all existed for that charge, he said.
Coming up on Fox: This whole protest is all a giant scam.
LiberalAndProud
(12,799 posts)But I do worry that the bill will land on the very people the police department harms in the form of new taxes and more warrants, and the department will continue business as usual. A complete and comprehensive house cleaning is in order. What are the chances that this lawsuit will bring about any of that?
Louisiana1976
(3,962 posts)police department will continue business as usual. It'll take more than a lawsuit to change things.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)so their carrier will have to pay up.
LiberalAndProud
(12,799 posts)No snark intended. I'm uneducated as to what kind of insurance policy would cover this sort of incident and which carriers would offer it.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)refuse to pay their legal judgments. Srsly.
edit: Or they could pull a Detroit and declare bankruptcy. Fortunately, Missouri does not have an emergency manager law, or a repuke governor.
LiberalAndProud
(12,799 posts)My state is currently at the $3.7 million mark spent battling Kansas over a $5 million settlement. As far as I know, no insurance companies have any interest in that battle, so I hadn't considered the insurance angle.
And you're right, getting a court judgment is not the same thing as getting paid.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Is the money simply collected in taxes from the residents of Ferguson to be paid over to this group of residents? Are the very people who were tear gassed and shot at and terrorized now going to have to cough up more in taxes to pay out to this particular group?
(Edit: I see I should have gone ahead and read the comments before posting, since this was just asked and addressed above already.)
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Seems to me there's a market out there for an app that automatically streams the video you shoot with your smartphone to a remote storage site to prevent cops from simply doing this sort of crap, if it doesn't exist already.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Come out and join me in $iliValley!