The Cohen Legal Team is all about compensation. Fighting for justice when our clients have been treated unfairly is one of the most important parts of our practice. However, it should be noted that this $6.4 million dollar settlement for the family of Freddie Gray exceeds the combined total of more than 120 other lawsuits brought against Baltimore City Police for alleged brutality and misconduct since 2011.
We have several pending cases with clients who were assaulted, abused and mistreated by the Baltimore City Police as well. Some even received media and news coverage, but it takes the death of a young African American in the city to realize this is a problem. I am impressed that this settlement happened so quickly for such a large number. The State law generally caps such payments, but local officials can authorize larger awards.
The city’s reasoning behind this settlement is understandable since they want to avoid long drawn-out civil cases against the police officers. But no one really knows the real information behind the settlement, particularly about why it was brought to the spending panel before any civil lawsuit was even filed and how the payment amount was reached. This was the biggest settlement yet for police brutality. The Baltimore City Police are outraged at this settlement before the criminal trials saying that there is no reason for it. The city is just trying to ease anger and tension of the people. They are trying to heal the city.
In the meantime, the Law Offices of Kerri Cohen will continue to fight for justice for our clients and we will simply prepare for trial and let a jury decide what our clients deserve in the name of justice.