September 8, 2015

Baltimore Just Proposed a Settlement With Freddie Gray’s Family

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenmelkisethian/19988572593/in/photolist-wsjEeX-xpLCf2-x7ziuE-xpLE2Z-xmSfts-wsb7rf-xpubcc-x7FZ6v-wsjHzp-xmSaaG-x7hLxQ-x7zp3w-wsjDDt-xoUfmM-x7zn1A-xpuffx-x7znk5-xmzJkJ-xpudoB-xmzLud-ws3bdP-jLGcth-7WxotD-s6qvsE-4ahKJV-4ahKPx-eV3TA-s5xHMn-4amPDC-6fwFuJ-s5xQax-s3ETBZ-s5q7q3-smY1QP-s5xGMr-s5pRch-rqco7c-smXE2z-3poobM-4MAF47-4LDLgp-4MAFbG-sjDFSB-rnToDT-sjGaFc-s3eRtx-sjx1mW-rnTotn-s36QqA-rnTnYz">Stephen Melkisethian</a>/Flickr

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Six months after Freddie Gray died from a spinal injury suffered after an alleged “rough ride” in the back of a police van, the city of Baltimore has tentatively agreed to settle with Gray’s family for $6.4 million. From the Times:

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a statement that the settlement with the family of Freddie Gray would be sent to the Baltimore Board of Estimates for a vote on Wednesday…

“The proposed settlement agreement going before the Board of Estimates should not be interpreted as a judgment on the guilt or innocence of the officers facing trial,” Ms. Rawlings-Blake said. The proposed settlement will be paid as $2.8 million in the current fiscal year and $3.6 million in the year beginning in July of 2016.

Six Baltimore police officers are currently being tried on criminal charges relating to Gray’s death, which sparked massive national protests in April.

The proposed settlement is close in amount to the $5.9 million agreement reached in July between New York City and the family of Eric Garner, who also died at the hands of the police, and eclipses the total $5.7 million that Baltimore has paid in all 102 alleged police misconduct cases since 2011, according to the Baltimore Sun.

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“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

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