Durham, NC, Refuses to Pay $6MM Awarded to Man Wrongfully Imprisoned for Decades | Hacker News Reader

Durham, NC, Refuses to Pay $6MM Awarded to Man Wrongfully Imprisoned for Decades

reason.com

32 pointsfortran7714 comments

State known for being racist fights tooth and nail against ~falsely imprisoned~ framed black person. Brace yourself for mental gymnastics.

I'm not really sure what there is to discuss here. How thin the veil is? The legalities involved in sending a debt from the state to collections?

Not the state, the city of Durham.

39% of residents are black[1]. 17% poverty[2]. 80% Democrat[3], mostly the new kind that can't see why moderates ought to exist.

Does that change your assessment?

[1] https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/durham-nc-popula... [2] https://www.welfareinfo.org/poverty-rate/north-carolina/durh... [3] https://bestplaces.net/voting/city/north_carolina/durham

What changed my assessment was actually another commenter[0] highlighting that the cop may be personally liable. If that's the case, then it could be a good thing with regards to qualified immunity. Cops seeing that there may be severe negative consequences for their actions may make them decide to behave.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31093344

Click through to Balko, 2014. The rot in the criminal justice system is so deep that DNA exoneration just means they drop the rape charge.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/03/20/...

Does this mean that Howard will be able to start seizing assets, or is the city protected against such measures of enforcement?

Imagine someone tearing down city traffic lights and selling them on eBay until the full reward had been recouped.

It would not end well, but it sure would be a hilarious form of protest.

From the article it sounds like he could seize assets from the cop (who probably hasn't $6M) but not the city as the case was against him and not the city:

> The city spent more than $4 million fighting Howard's civil rights lawsuit, which originally included the city and several employees as defendants but ultimately just included Dowdy. Now the city says it won't indemnify Dowdy, whom it employed for 36 years. That means it won't pay the $6 million the jury awarded Howard

Sheer stupidity and stubbornness. Hoping this lands right back in court and he walks away with $12MM… and that the city counsel is dismissed.

> the city will only pay out if its cops and other employees were acting in good faith, not maliciously. Since the officer that framed Howard was found to be acting in bad faith, the city won't pay.

Ah yes, perfectly sound logic. /s

There is sanity in that logic. If a government employee gets a speeding ticket while working, the city doesn’t typically pay it either.

But of course, they should make an exception here.

There really isn’t sanity in that logic.

They paid him to be a cop for 36 years. He was on a payroll when he fabricated evidence.

If I’m a truck driver and I break something with my truck on a shift, my company’s insurance policy will cover that. Apparently, this is not true if I’m a cop and I break someone’s life.

If you are acting maliciously when you break something while at work, yes the insurance company will pay. But then the insurance company will come after you to recover the losses.

> a government employee gets a speeding ticket while working

We’re talking about police officers, who are notorious for getting away with various infractions, including speed tickets and falsifying evidence leading to life imprisonment or death row.

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