Jackson Jambalaya

The late George Robinson's family rejected a settlement with the city of Jackson after the City Council voted to approve a settlement of $17,000.  

62 year-old George Robinson went to the hospital a few hours after an encounter with three JPD officers in 2019.  He died two days later due to a subdural hematoma.  He suffered a stroke several days before the police encounter (and was probably taking blood thinner medication).  The grand jury indicted the three officers for his death. Circuit Judge Faye Peterson dismissed the charges against two of the officers.  Anthony Fox was convicted after a trial but the Court of Appeals overturned his conviction this year.   

Robinson’s family sued the city of Jackson in federal court for damages related to their loved one’s death.  The City Council voted to approve the settlement in open session last week.  However, the revelation of the settlement agreement did not sit well with the family.  

 The family's attorney, Dennis Sweet, blasted the City Council for disclosing the settlement agreement in an April 24 letter:

On April 12, 2024, all involved parties engaged in mediation. During this mediation, the City of Jackson, which operates without insurance coverage, represented that it was in financial straits and did not possess substantial funds in which to resolve Ms. Wade's claims against it. After agreeing to settle all claims against Al\1R during this mediation, Ms. Wade agreed to allow the City of Jackson to join in this settlement so as to fully and finally conclude this litigation. Had AMR not agreed to a substantial settlement amount, Ms. Wade would not have settled with the City of Jackson. As part of this settlement, the parties agreed that the financial terms and conditions of the same would not be disclosed and would remain confidential.

Yesterday, I learned that the City of Jackson had disclosed to the public the purported terms of
the settlement with the Plaintiffs in this matter. Rather than approve such settlement in executive session, refer the Plaintiffs as "Doe" Plaintiffs, or otherwise have the identity of the Plaintiffs placed under seal, the City of Jackson chose to publicly disclose portions of the terms of its purported settlement. In fact, the City of Jackson appears to claim or infer some sort of perceived victory in agreeing to remit a certain sum for its outrageous conduct which culminated in the death of George Robinson. This misguided conduct is clearly in violation of the confidentiality agreement entered into by the City of Jackson.

 

So Mr. Sweet is upset the city allegedly violated a so-called confidentiality agreement?  Well, guess what, Dennis, baby? Secret settlement agreements are illegal in Mississippi, but of course, you know that. Right.

Let's step back in time to over ten years ago.  Motorola settled a lawsuit with the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.  Yours truly filed a public records request for the settlement agreement but was told it was confidential.  JJ went to court and reported on July 7, 2013 that special Chancellor Larry Buffington held the settlement agreement was a public record:

 This court recognizes that the most recent cases involved private individuals and companies and not a government entity.

This Court further finds no compelling reason to not require the Hinds County Board of Supervisors to provide the settlement agreement pursuant to a properly filed Freedom of Information Act request.

This Court further finds that the intervener has properly requested the documents and the same should be provided.

It is therefore, ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the settlement documents between Motorola Solutions, Inc. and Hinds County, Mississippi are subject to the Freedom of Information Act and that the documents requested are matters that are discoverable by the public and should remain so." Earlier post

Mr. Sweet will undoubtedly argue the family filed their lawsuit in federal court so a Hinds County opinion does not apply.  The downtown lawyer would be correct except the issue was addressed in federal court a few years ago.  

The ACLU and the Madison County Sheriff settled a lawsuit in 2019 and tried to seal the settlement agreement.  However, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves had other ideas as he denied the motion to seal:

Openness and government transparency remain important even in the context of settlement negotiations. While “[t]here is a strong public policy in favor of settlement,” id. at 172, when agreements are made by or for public entities and officials, whether at the federal, state or local level – unlike agreements between private litigants – the public “possesses a significant interest in monitoring and oversight of public officials and entities, even in litigation,”....

As a general policy, for example, federal regulations bar the United States Department of Justice from entering settlement agreements or consent decrees that are subject to confidentiality provisions and “against seeking or concurring in the sealing of such documents.....

The Defendants have raised the important interest of supporting the confidentiality of settlement negotiations and the potential injury of losing some benefit of their bargain should the terms of the Agreements be disclosed. However, they have failed to persuade that this interest outweighs the presumption against granting confidentiality orders that protect public entities when the order will likely conflict with freedom of information laws, especially since their Motion comes after the close of settlement negotiations.

The Ethics Commission issued a similar ruling in 2018 when the city of Jackson denied a WLBT public records request for settlement agreements.  The Commission decreed: 

The settlement agreements sought by WLBT are clearly public records, regardless of whether the e agreements contain a provision requiring confidentiality. The city was unable to identify any statutory or court decision specifically exempting these settlement agreements as confidential or privileged and not subject to the Public Records Act. Further, the Mississippi Supreme Court has noted, “public records which do not fall into a carefully defined exception provided by law are entirely open to access by the general public.”

Thus, George Robinson's family can settle the lawsuit all day long.  However, the people paying any settlement are the taxpayers of Jackson, Mississippi and they have the right to know how much money is spent on their behalf to settle a questionable police brutality lawsuit and that, my friends, is the bottom line.