Posted on 04/01/2019 5:55:15 PM PDT by Theoria
Kathy Gonzalez knows that many people across the cornfields and cattle ranches of eastern Nebraska believe she is a murderer. It doesnt change the fact that they owe her millions of dollars.
Ms. Gonzalez was one of six innocent people who collectively spent 77 years in prison for the murder of a 68-year-old woman named Helen Wilson, whose death haunted this rural county for decades. Now, years after DNA evidence exonerated the defendants, they are about to collect a $28 million civil rights judgment against Gage County, which prosecuted them based on false confessions.
But because the county has limited financial resources and a dwindling population, nearly all of its 22,000 residents must foot the bill by paying hundreds or thousands of dollars in higher property taxes. County leaders have pleaded for help from state lawmakers, and even flirted with declaring bankruptcy.
Do I think its fair these people are going to have to pay us off? Ms. Gonzalez asked. No. But it wasnt fair what they did to us, either.
The $28 million jury award is one of the largest judgments ever levied against such a small place, say experts who study wrongful convictions. It has stirred resentment in the coffee shops and bars of Beatrice, a small town where suspicions about the defendants known as the Beatrice Six still linger like an oil stain on the road.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I'd have to say that doesn't really track. The government that prosecuted (persecuted) these people still exists. It exists as an entity in the same way that a corporate entity does. If a corporation dumps a bunch of dioxin in a hole, and this is discovered 20 years later, the corporation is still on the hook for the costs even though few of the existing shareholders that currently own the corporation may have been shareholders at the time the deed was done. Just because the entity that did it was a government doesn't give them a pass for being held responsible for it.
Personally, I'd rather see those who took part in this travesty get sentenced to the terms they saddled the victims with. That would be justice, and might help prevent things like this from happening again in the future. The problem with that is that the government adheres to the concept of 'sovereign immunity' which would largely protect any of those who are actually responsible. Because of this, you pretty much have to take it out on government itself, and the taxpayers that fund it.
“Perhaps the county will raise property taxes.”
It appears that the county has already increased the property taxes to their legal limit and a multi-year settlement is necessary.
I’d have to say that doesn’t really track. The government that prosecuted (persecuted) these people still exists. It exists as an entity in the same way that a corporate entity does. If a corporation dumps a bunch of dioxin in a hole, and this is discovered 20 years later, the corporation is still on the hook for the costs even though few of the existing shareholders that currently own the corporation may have been shareholders at the time the deed was done. Just because the entity that did it was a government doesn’t give them a pass for being held responsible for it.
This is a very good explanation of why the government is still accountable.
The problem with that is that the government adheres to the concept of ‘sovereign immunity’ which would largely protect any of those who are actually responsible. Because of this, you pretty much have to take it out on government itself, and the taxpayers that fund it.
Id like to see some limitations on soverign immunity. When a government official _knowingly and willingly_ fails to uphold the law they should not be protected by it when there are negative consequences and damages. That would put a very quick end to sanctuary cities.
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