It seems like a lot of money but I do not think ANY amount can re-pay what these men went through in jail. What the FBI was horrible.
QUOTE |
The FBI encouraged perjury, helped frame the four men and withheld for more than three decades information that could have cleared them, U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner said in issuing her ruling Thursday. She called the government's argument that the FBI had no duty to get involved in the state case "absurd." Peter Limone, Joseph Salvati and the families of the two other men who died in prison had sued the federal government for malicious prosecution. They argued that Boston FBI agents knew mob hitman Joseph "the Animal" Barboza lied when he named the men as killers in the 1965 death of Edward Deegan. They said Barboza was protecting a fellow FBI informant, Vincent "Jimmy" Flemmi, who was involved. The four men convicted on Barboza's lies were treated as "acceptable collateral damage" because the FBI's priority at the time was taking down the Mafia, their attorneys said. A Justice Department lawyer had argued that federal authorities couldn't be held responsible for the results of a state prosecution and had no duty to share information with the officials who prosecuted Limone, Salvati, Henry Tameleo and Louis Greco. "The FBI's misconduct was clearly the sole cause of this conviction," the judge said Thursday. "The government's position is, in a word, absurd." "No lost liberty is dispensable. We have fought wars over this principle. We are still fighting these wars," Gertner told the packed courtroom. Salvati and Limone were exonerated in 2001 after FBI memos dating back to the Deegan case surfaced, showing the men had been framed by Barboza. The memos were made public during a Justice Department task force probe of the FBI's relationship with gangsters and FBI informants James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "the Rifleman" Flemmi. Limone, now 73, and Salvati, 75, stared straight ahead as the judge announced her ruling. A gasp could be heard from the area where their friends and family were sitting when Gertner said how much the government would be forced to pay.... |
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 1089 100%
To get true finalized justice, this money should not be taxed at all. The money they paid for the lawyer should not be taxed, as the government will get its cut from the lawyers income. In addition, it should be allowed to be passed down through the family upon their deaths without taxation as well. They also should be spared paying any personal taxes throughout the remainder of their lives. Additionally, if any of those lawyers are still practicing, they should be disbarred. Of course, they will tell you that their bosses pushed them to commit the infraction, but according to the oath that they take (upon being recognized as a practicing lawyer) this is illegal and they are the ones that broke the law.
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 863 86.3%