North Carolina to pay $7.5M over wrongful conviction

Civil Rights

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and its insurers will pay $7.5 million to the estate of a North Carolina man who was wrongfully convicted of a 1976 murder.

Charles Ray Finch died in January at 83. He was freed from a North Carolina prison three years ago after a federal judge overturned his murder conviction for which he spent 43 years in prison. The parties reached a settlement agreement that was finalized Tuesday, The Wilson Times reported.

In December 2019, Finch filed a federal lawsuit against Wilson County, its current sheriff, two former deputies and two NCSBI employees, The News & Observer reported at the time.

The lawsuit accused the respective agencies of corruption, specifically that the former deputies framed Finch for murder, an SBI agent covered for the sheriff’s office and an SBI general counsel later hid evidence that would have cleared Finch.

The original civil complaint

Simone Biles, other Olympic gymnasts seeking $1 billion from FBI over botched sex abuse investigation

Sexual Abuse

Attorneys for more than 90 women and girls who were sexually abused by disgraced former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar submitted claims for over $1 billion to the FBI, saying investigators could have ended Nassar’s predation and protected other victims had they not mishandled the case.

The claimants include Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney and world championship medalist Maggie Nichols. Each has asked for $50 million, according to the law firm that represents them.
DOJ declines for 3rd time to bring charges against former FBI agents who botched Nassar case
DOJ declines for 3rd time to bring charges against former FBI agents who botched Nassar case
Gymnasts Kaylee Lorincz and Hannah Morrow are each asking for $42.5 million, the attorneys said. Lawyers say most of the 90 women are asking for $10 million each;

$121.5M settlement in New Mexico clergy sex abuse scandal

Catholic Sexual Abuse

One of the oldest Catholic dioceses in the United States announced a settlement agreement Tuesday to resolve a bankruptcy case in New Mexico that resulted from a clergy sex abuse scandal.

The tentative deal totals $121.5 million and would involve about 375 claimants.

Recent Stories from ABC News

The proposed settlement comes as the Catholic Church continues to wrestles with a sex abuse and cover-up scandal that has spanned the globe. Some of the allegations in New Mexico date back decades.

The chairman of a creditors committee that negotiated the agreement on behalf of the surviving victims and others said it would hold the Archdiocese of Santa Fe accountable for the abuse and result in one of the largest diocese contributions to a bankruptcy settlement in U.S. history.

It also includes a non-monetary agreement with the Archdiocese to create a public archive of documents regarding the history of the sexual abuse claims,

Chicago archdiocese settles sex abuse suit for $1.2 million

Catholic Sexual Abuse

The Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to pay $1.2 million to a man who alleged that he was sexually abused when he was 12 years old by a defrocked priest who was convicted of sexually abusing several boys, the man’s attorney announced on Tuesday.

The settlement of the case before a lawsuit was filed was announced in a news release by attorney Lyndsay Markley and marks the latest chapter in the story of Daniel McCormack, one of the most notorious pedophiles in the history of Chicago’s archdiocese.

McCormack, who pleaded guilty in 2007 to sexually abusing five children while he was a priest at St. Agatha’s parish in Chicago, was released from prison last fall and has registered as a sex offender with the Illinois State Police. According to published reports, he was listed at that time as living in Chicago’s Near North neighborhood.

The settlement follows other similar settlements

Minneapolis to pay Jaleel Stallings $1.5 million

Police Brutality

The city of Minneapolis has agreed to pay $1.5 million plus costs and attorneys’ fees to Jaleel Stallings, an Army veteran who sued the city after being acquitted on the grounds of self-defense after he was charged with shooting at Minneapolis police who first fired marking rounds at him.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI are investigating the incident, which took place five days after the police murder of George Floyd.

As the Minneapolis Police Department struggled to regain control of the city, a SWAT team drove around Minneapolis in an unmarked van at night, firing 40-mm marking rounds at civilians out after curfew. They then beat Stallings and his companion after Stallings fired back with a pistol, unaware they were cops. He said he purposefully missed them.

Nearly a year after a jury acquitted the former St. Paul man of eight charges, including attempted murder, Stallings