News

City Won’t Pay $6 Million Awarded to Man Wrongfully Imprisoned for Decades

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After a wrongful conviction, the city won’t pay.Qualified immunity permits law enforcement officers to escape punishment for all kinds of criminal acts. Durham, North Carolina has shown that even when you get over that hurdle, that won’t be enough to bring justice.

Darryl Howard was incorrectly convicted for murder after a Durham detective falsified evidence. He spent more than 20 years in prison. The jury award Howard $6million in the ensuing suit, however the city refused.

Even worse, Howard is being asked by the city to cover the legal costs of two city employees who were dismissed in the lawsuit.

I proved my innocence. I was present at every court. Howard stated that all judges, not just the governor, said what the matter was. News & Observer. “Now, I must fight again.”

Howard was sentenced to two counts of second degree murder and one of arson in 1995. (Former ReasonRadley Balko provides more information on this case. The convictions were dismissed and the case was dropped by the district attorney. The governor of Indiana, Roy Cooper pardoned Howard in April 2021. Howard received an official pardon from Roy Cooper.

In December, a federal jury found that Darrell Dowdy, former Durham detective had falsified evidence and carried out an inept investigation. Howard was awarded $6 million by the jury.

Howard’s civil rights suit against the city cost more than $4million to fight. The original lawsuit included several city employees and other defendants, but eventually only Dowdy was included. The city has now said it will not indemnify Dowdy who it worked with for 36 years. It won’t even pay Howard the $6 million he was awarded by the jury.

This is a strange reasoning that says the city won’t pay if police officers and employees act in good faith and not malice. The city will not pay because Howard’s officer was found guilty of acting in bad faith.

Learn more The News & Observer:

The city resolution sets a standard for dealing with claims against it and defines a policy that will protect officers and employees from civil lawsuits and judgements.

Rehberg stated that the city proceeds as if there is no evidence or other information.

Rehberg stated that the City Council refused to pay the judgment in closed sessions between December and February. For attorney-client consultation, the meetings were closed to answer Dowdy’s and Howard’s demands.

Rehberg wrote in an email that she believed it was in the public’s interest for the city to resolve any judgments against them. She added that “if the facts of the claim/suit in which judgment is entered demonstrate that an officer or employee engaged in good faith performance of their duties on behalf the City at the time the act or omission giving birth to the claim/suit occurred”, and that Rehberg also stressed the importance of good faith. Rehberg wrote, “A jury composed of Mr. Dowdy’s peers found that Mr. Dowdy had engaged in fabricating evidence and failed to investigate.”

Dowdy’s lawyer told the newspaper that “the city knew all along what Captain Dowdy did, and decided to defend him on this basis.”

FREE MINDS

How a Japanese reality show can help America learn about parenting.It is suggested that Americans have become too protective over the last few decades, and should reconsider letting their children do so more on their own. New York Times parenting writer Jessica Grose. Grose will respond to You are not old enough!The Japanese TV series “The Anime” can now be viewed on Netflix. This series shows children learning how to do their own errands.

Gross claims that the show’s concept wouldn’t work in America because American parents love their children more than other nations.

This is not a Japanese phenomenon. It’s not just in Japan. Dan Kois wrote a book on traveling around the globe with his nine-year-old and eleven-year-old children. He said that “our experience in many of the places that we lived in that year, children, particularly middle-grade children were allowed enormous amounts of freedom that were completely incomprehensible to the average American.” Kois, for example, said that the Dutch kids used their own bikes to get to school.

Although American parents seem to be more protective than other parents, the degree of protection was shocking. A 2012 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the average age American adults believe a child can be left alone at home was 13.

FREE MARKETS

Sri Lankan authorities have banned the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.This has been an untold disaster that decimated some once thriving agricultural sectors.

According to the London Post, “The long-term use synthetic fertilisers has made Sri Lanka not only food secure but also an important agricultural exporter.” Times:

For the equivalent amount of nitrogen that was supplied to Sri Lankan farmland in 2019, it would take five to seven times the amount of animal manure to replace synthetic fertilisers with organic fertilizers. Even accounting for the over-application of synthetic fertilisers, which is clearly a problem, and other uncertainties, there is almost certainly not remotely enough land in this small island nation to produce that much organic fertiliser….

Today Sri Lankans have to deal with routine food shortages as well as power outages lasting up 13 hours at the peak of the summer. The country should be celebrating its New Year—but with widespread food shortages, India is supplying wheat, sugar and rice. The prices are skyrocketing, many people are having to wait to fill up their vehicles with petrol. Hospitals have had to cancel routine surgery (which is why critical medicines are in such short supply).

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