Judge approves $1.5 million settlement for families of Newtown shooting victims

[DonViejo]

Source: Reuters

A Connecticut judge on Thursday approved the largest portion yet of a settlement in which the estate of the mother of the gunman who carried out a 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary school will pay out $1.5 million to families of 16 victims.

Probate Court Judge Joseph Egan in Bethel, Connecticut approved deals with the families of six of the 20 first-graders killed in the Dec. 14, 2012, rampage, according to a court clerk and attorneys who were present at the closed hearing.

Two survivors of the attack, which also killed six educators, joined the initial lawsuit but were not part of the final settlement, which represents the amount of a homeowners’ insurance policy that gunman 20-year-old Adam Lanza’s mother had held on her Newton, Connecticut home.

One deal had been approved earlier and nine more are pending approval at other probate courts around the state, according to attorney Rosemarie Paine, the president of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, which arranged legal representation for the families, each of which will receive $93,750 under the settlement.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/judge-approves-1-5-million-settlement-for-families-of-newtown-shooting-victims/

[Feeling the Bern]

1. 16 victims. 1.5 million dollars. Less than 100K per victim.

Human life really is cheap these days.

[Fred Sanders]

2. This is one of several suits....the estate of the gun nut mother of the gun nut killer has limited funds.

This is good news.

[Feeling the Bern]

3. So long as the elementary school isn't sued.

[Fred Sanders]

5. Why?

[Feeling the Bern]

6. How is it the school's fault for some nujob wandering on campus and opening fire?

Where is the negligence?

[branford]

4. It was the full limit of the homeowner's insurance policy.

There was no more money available from the estate.

I believe that the school and firearm manufacturers are also being sued. I don't know if the school has any real liability, and the firearm lawsuit will likely soon be dismissed as both meritless and barred by the PLCAA.

[rocktivity]

7. Minus the lawyer's cut

They'll be lucky if they see $50k each.


rocktivity

[Journeyman]

8. Well, whatta ya know: Something was done . . .

[woundedkarma]

9. What kinda crack are you people smoking?

This makes no sense, maybe I've got it all wrong in my head. I never had any idea this was going on and it's my first short glimpse of the news article.

Do I have it right? A woman is shot to death by her POS son. He then goes on a rampage and kills a bunch of kids and teachers. He shoots himself.

Yet, for some reason the insurance company the mom had a policy on the house through has to cough up $1.5 million?

This doesn't make any sense to me at all and you guys are all like "right on dude.. go sue everyone for your grief" ... $90k doesn't pay for the grief you suffer from the death of a child and the only person who is responsible for that death is gone.

You are going to be miserable for the rest of your existence even if you have other children.

At least going after the gun companies make sense, but better to spend your time reminding everyone in the country that your child died because some nuts want to own assault rifles so they can kill EVERYBODY.

I'm sure someone will point out hey $90k will buy a couple plane rides to tell people that stuff.. no no it won't. It's not enough.

Don't take the money. Stand for something. It's not about money, it's about nuts and guns. And the only way we have to keep our children safe is to get rid of both of them.

Those poor families deserve better.

[Blue_Tires]

10. Did you miss the part where mom encouraged and enabled his gun fetish?

Even though she knew her son had spiders crawling all over his brain?

[Calista241]

11. technically, they're suing the mother

Since the kid was still a dependent. And since she is also dead, they're suing the estate.

And the homeowners insurance is not paying out to the victims here. She had an umbrella policy which is designed to protect ones assets from liability.

Normally, umbrella policies are to shield your house and other assets from seizure in a legal action. If you or a dependent get drunk and get in a wreck, these kinds of policies can prevent you from losing everything.

Because she had this policy, the victims will get the payout without having to seize her house and other assets, and then sell them.

[Lurks Often]

13. The house has already been torn down

and Nancy's assets, aside from the house were about $64,000.

The insurance company probably figured it was better for them to pay out the $1.5 million rather then go to court and not only lose, but get all sorts of bad publicity as well.

[LanternWaste]

12. The kind of crack that compels us to read the entire story

The kind of crack that compels us to read the entire story rather than make an inference from a mere headline.