The U.S. government will pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Steven Hatfill, a former U.S. Army biodefense researcher who was intensively investigated as a "person of interest" in the deadly anthrax letters of 2001, the Justice Department announced Friday. The settlement, consisting of $2.825 million in cash and an annuity worth $1.8 million that will pay Hatfill $150,000 a year for 20 years, brings to an end a five-year legal battle. Hatfill's lawsuit, filed in 2003, accused FBI agents and Justice Department officials involved in the criminal investigation of the anthrax mailings of leaking information about him to the news media in violation of the Privacy Act "The good news is that we still live in a country where a guy who's been horribly abused can go to a judge and say, 'I need your help,' and maybe it takes a while, but he gets justice," Grannis said. THIS IS RIDICULOUS, BECAUSE THAT POMPOUS BIODEFENSE RESEARCHER NOW GETS TO RETIRE, HIS REPUTATION GOT SLAPPED. IF ANYTHING HE SHOULD BE SUING THE PEOPLE WHO WENT AGAINST THE PRIVACY ACT, RATHER THAN RETIRING OFF OF HIS FELLOW CIVILIANS!
Bull - there's nothing ridiculous about it! They destroyed his career (something he spent a lot of time and money on in college), even advised one company to NOT hire him and all the unwarranted negative publicity they created pretty much insured that no one else would hire him, either. For five solid years he had NO income at all - and you consider that a mere "slap against his reputation"???? Let's see YOU go that long without a job or the prospects of even getting one and see how you feel then!!! :bugeye: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Get real !!!!!
i agree with read only. As much as i hate tax money being used to pay compensation for idiocy its not greed to seek damages for genuine harm
But they were entrusted and hired by citizens or their reps. Citizens are responsible for seeing to it that there is good government oversight of law enforcement etc. Citizens via such a lawsuit are given incentive to keep a close watch on governmental abuse and to think twice about wanting police and prosecuters not to be bogged down by a lot of rule that 'only help criminals'. Further compensation should not be dependent on the salary of the government employee(s) who leaked. In the short term it is unfair. In the long term however it creates a feedback loop against fascist tendencies in government. I can't really see why you called the guy pompous. I mean, I suppose he may be, but it seems utterly irrelevent to the issue.
Well, of course they were! :bugeye: No one has denied that - but just exactly WHO do think they were agents of, the Peter Pan peanut butter company?????
And who were those people? They were employed by a Government agency. They represented their employer when they breached the Privacy Act. They were not acting as individuals when they did this.
Sounds reasonable. The U.S. gov destroyed his career so they had to compensate him for that destruction. You break it, you buy it... as the saying goes.
