An acquaintance of mine ran a stop sign in rural Mo. She was killed in the collision that ensued. Her son and step daughter sued Mo. saying the stop sign was partially obscured, they sued for $4,000,000, the state offered $500,000 and they accepted.
The kicker is, that they had found a half empty (or half full) bottle of whiskey in the car after the accident, nothing was ever brought up about that, the state just paid to make it go away.
Mo. is likely to settle with the Ferguson money grubbers too.
Of the half mil, each got one third. Son one third, daughter one third and lawyer one third. They probably argued about who got the extra penny because half mil cannot be equally divide among three people.
If Ferguson pays out like that, then they won’t have garbage collection, police or fire services, public works, etc, for centuries.
This money doesn’t come from a bottomless wallet.