D.C. will pay $5.1 million as part of a class-action settlement with gun owners who were arrested under laws that have since been found to violate the Second Amendment, according to the settlement agreement.
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In this case, the six plaintiffs — including four non-D.C. residents — were arrested between 2012 and 2014 on gun-related charges. They filed a lawsuit in 2015.
It took eight years after the lawsuit was filed and they still don’t have their money:
The settlement agreement must still have a “fairness hearing” in December before final approval is given. Court records show D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) signed off on the $5.1 million settlement amount in June.
And, of course, the villains will not be paying the settlement with their own money. They will use taxpayer money. These people need to be prosecuted.
I hope this will be a warning for other politicians. I would like to think that if others ignore the law the following lawsuits will be easier and easier. The, eventually, an ambitious Federal Prosecutor will start prosecuting them under 18 USC 242. Then, with a few convictions, they will finally stop their unlawful persecution of gun owners.
$5.1M is at least one order of magnitude, and probably two, below what it should be.
Not to mention 8 years of interest due.
The prosecutions, long overdue, would be nice to see, but in the meantime unless there is pain – real, extremely severe pain, financially crippling pain – this crap will continue just because it can. D.C.’s annual budget is $10.8B, two orders of magnitude would take $510M – about 20% – out of that budget. It would force some government agencies to shut down completely, taxpayers to cough up at least 20% more, or some of both.
Until there is lots of financial blood on the floor – or several years of orange jumpsuits for everyone involved (my vote would be for both) – there will be no incentive to change.