Eric Garner Case Is Settled by New York City for $5.9 Million

[Purveyor]

Source: New York Times


By J. DAVID GOODMANJULY 13, 2015


New York City reached a settlement with the family of Eric Garner on Monday, agreeing to pay $5.9 million to resolve a wrongful death claim over his killing by the police on Staten Island last July, a lawyer for the family said.

The agreement, reached just a few days before the deadline to file suit, headed off one potentially fractious legal battle over Mr. Garner’s death even as a federal inquiry into the killing and several others at the state and local level remain open and could provide a further accounting of how he died.

Still, the settlement was a pivotal moment in a case that has engulfed the city and the Police Department since the afternoon of July 17, 2014, when two officers approached Mr. Garner as he stood unarmed on a sidewalk and accused him of selling untaxed cigarettes.

The death of Mr. Garner, 43, followed by the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., in August, set off a national debate about policing actions in minority communities and racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/14/nyregion/eric-garner-case-is-settled-by-new-york-city-for-5-9-million.html?_r=0

[Archae]

1. Just like I keep saying...

New York taxpayers get the bill, Garner's family gets a lot of money, and nothing else changes.

The cops who illegally choked Eric Garner to death are still on the job.

And the Fraternal Order Of Police says "Our boys can do NO wrong..."

Maybe if that police union started paying out these settlements, there would be actual change.

[GoneFishin]

2. +1. Agreed.

[rpannier]

3. They should be required to carry malpractice insurance like doctors

and in some areas teachers do as well
Then their insurers would have to pay
If the insurance company cuts them off, then they're responsible for their portion

[cstanleytech]

5. Not a bad idea actually but it would probably mean you would have to raise their pay to offset the

cost to the officers as well.

[rpannier]

9. I would be okay with that

But I don't think iot should be on a case-by-case basis
Someone with 75 judgments against them shouldn't be given an extra amount vs someone with 2 incidents

[cstanleytech]

4. Personally I would prefer that police departments not have to pay settlements at all.

Of course for that to happen they would have to have far better standards at who they hire in the first place and implement better training as well as implementing a program to make sure that every officer is kept up to date in the training every 6 months to a year plus all police complaints should not be investigated by the police but by an independent agency or group from outside.

[brush]

6. You mean leave it like it is?

Because police depts. don't pay them now, the city does.

Are you proposing that no settlements be paid, ever?

[cstanleytech]

8. No, I am proposing we improve the police departments so settlements dont need

to be paid.

[brush]

10. That's an ideal goal . . .

but not realistic. Too many rogue/racist cops that will take years, if not decades to evey weed out.

Not to mention the policy changes throughout departments to even began such a sea change.

[cstanleytech]

11. If we do nothing then cities will keep paying

huge ass settlements, frankly I lean towards fixing the problem rather than ignoring it.

[brush]

17. I think we all want it fixed

But during the time it takes to fix it incidents are going to happen and people are going to be killed and their families will have to be compensated.

[Igel]

13. The City doesn't have to pay settlements.

It could go to court, but then it would lose.

Even if it won the suit, it would lose from all the bad PR.

If it lost the suit, who knows what the damages would be, because of the PR.


As for the rest, sure. Make the mandatory training/investigation also required for doctors and nurses, EMTs, firefighters, and judges. While we're at it, any other essential services: child welfare and social service workers, mass transit workers, ACA counselors, those nice people behind the counter at the DMV and those giving driving tests, EPA and OSHA inspectors ... I mean, there's a wide spectrum of folk that could use an independent watchdog looking over their shoulders to help ensure public safety.

[RobinA]

15. If You Want

to talk damages, unless punitives are available in this case (I don't know), damages don't depend on PR. I suspect the city settled to put as many miles between it and this case as possible. In the hypothetical absence of punitive damages, more for PR reasons than monetary.

[cstanleytech]

16. I would probably support that entire list as most of it makes sense

because people doing most those jobs could do with retraining as peoples lives are at risk.
Not 100% sure about the dmv ones though the driving test makes sense but really that should be for all drivers as there are alot of assholes out there who either need to retake the test or just have their licenses revoked.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

12. +1 n/t

[7962]

14. Agreed. Although I'm not sure the "strangler" IS still on the job.

I thought he was let go

[yallerdawg]

7. Maybe now they'll take selling single cigarettes...

off of 'capital crimes' list.

[udbcrzy2]

18. Smart move

I think it was a smart move by the family. There is no amount of money that would be enough! Going to civil court would be a lengthy and the outcome unsure.

[heaven05]

19. won't help Eric Garner

while $$$$ palliate the tragedy of this murder/executionand may provide some type of closure, money for a life....?????