Dickson City spent over $100G on legal bills in 2008

[granuale]

Greg posted this in the giganto Dickson city thread, but I thought it deserved it's own treatment. I think it's great news and shows how all but the largest cities counties and towns need to respect civil rights or they will pay for their mistakes. Keep in mind these expenses are before any potential judgment in the case! I hope it encourages others who have been violated to go ahead and sue.

Dickson City spent over $100G on legal bills in 2008

DICKSON CITY — Lawsuits and lawyers cost Dickson City Borough about $109,000 in 2008, not including another $29,000 in legal bills that will spill over into 2009.

That is between two to three times as much as in 2007, when the borough spent about $40,000 on legal bills, according to expenses provided by borough officials.

A quarter of the 2008 costs were the result of a lawsuit stemming from police action with an open carry gun group in May at the Old Country Buffet. Dickson City had to pay $25,000 related to that lawsuit to cover a deductible from their insurance carrier.

A second lawsuit that resulted from the incident will also cost Dickson City $25,000, though that bill is still pending.

Borough Council President Barbara Mecca said the costs are unfortunate.

“You know, it’s a crap shoot with these lawsuits. In this country, anyone can file a lawsuit, and the borough is obligated to defend itself,” she said.

Part of the 2008 costs were also associated with “making us more bulletproof” to lawsuits, Mrs. Mecca said. The borough paid $13,188 to Ballard Spahr Andrews and Ingersoll to review and recommend changes to how the borough tested candidates for its police department.

The Civil Service Commission requested the borough hire outside help to review the process following a potential appeal in 2007 by part-time officer Paul Nardozzi. Because borough solicitor Bill Jones was representing the municipality on issues related to the Civil Service Commission, he also had about $5,000 in costs beyond his retainer.

Mrs. Mecca said had they not gone through the expense of reviewing how police officers were hired “the potential liability would have been way in excess of the cost of Ballard Spahr.”

Mr. Jones agreed with the council president on that account.

“They’re are being proactive in avoiding the higher costs of lawsuits,” he said.

Bills show Mr. Jones was paid about $45,548 — which includes a $24,000 retainer — by the borough; however, about $2,500 would likely be reimbursable, because it was related to work done for developers on the borough’s behalf.

Another $9,600 bill from Mr. Jones was related to the purchase of a fire engine on behalf of the Dickson City Fire Department. Mr. Jones said there is more to buying fire apparatus than people would think. “Take two telephone books and put them together — that’s the file,” he said.

Councilman Larry West said while campaigning for office, he and others wanted to bring “dignity and integrity” to the borough.

“I believe we have done that. We’ve have been striving to (cut back on lawsuits), but there are some things out of our control,” he said. “I know there are naysayers out there, but this council has worked hard this past year.”

BY CHARLES SCHILLINGER
STAFF WRITER
Contact the writer: cschillinger@timesshamrock.com

Borough Council President Barbara Mecca said the costs are unfortunate.

“You know, it’s a crap shoot with these lawsuits. In this country, anyone can file a lawsuit, and the borough is obligated to defend itself,” she said.

I thought this quote was pretty interesting. What she leaves out is that Dickson city is not obligated to continue to violate civil rights against any reasonable interpretation of the law, when they have had ample time to review the situation and had the law spoon fed to them on numerous occasions to numerous officials.

Too late to know now, but I wonder if there would have been a suit at all if the chief of police hand delivered the Gorilla's gun with a truly contrite letter of apology coupled with a pledge to insure he would educate all current and future officers in the law? Well, I suppose it's better this way. Now this sends a message to the other jurisdictions in the Commonwealth about how costly it can be to be hostile to gun owners' rights. That, and hopefully PaPatriot will get some serious cash which he might use some of to continue his support for gun owners

[gnbrotz]

This article has been posted in the ongoing Dickson City thread, where it is currently being discussed.

http://forum.pafoa.org/open-carry-14...ity-5-9-a.html