Although it does not ease the pain, nor the loss, the family of Eric Garner will receive a settlement for $ 5.9 million dollars from the city of New York. Just in case the world has been spinning too fast for my Observers to remember, Eric Garner was choked to death by a New York City police officer while he was allegedly selling cigarettes illegally on the street.
As far as Mad Man is concerned this settlement is an admission of guilt by the City of New York because they have decided that if the Garner family's lawsuit were to go to trial, the verdict against the police department would have yielded much more.
These types of settlements are a common practice by cities across America when there is positive evidence that the police have been so negligent in their duties that they take someone's life. Unfortunately, it appears that 90% of these senseless and unnecessary murders involve Black people.
The late, great attorney Johnnie Cochran kicked started his career by representing the families of Black men and women who had been illegally abused by the police. In almost all of his lawsuits, there never was trial because the evidence was so overwhelming that the city decided to cut its losses and pay.
Let's hope that the money that the Garner family receives will ease some of the hardship and pain that has been caused by their husband and father's death. In most cases the gift of money usually makes everyone feel a little better, but in the case of a death, it will be hard to tell.
I do know that today the Garner family will probably be having a very Good Friday, but their husband and father, Eric, will not be there to enjoy it.
Mad Man
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