Opinion: $20 mil. Dugard payment covers up truth
By Bruce Maiman, Sacramento Bee
The decision last week by the California Legislature to approve a settlement for Jaycee Lee Dugard is costing us way more than $20 million.
Kidnapped near her Tahoe-area home in 1991, authorities say that Dugard, then 11 years old, was imprisoned in the Antioch home of Phillip and Nancy Garrido for nearly two decades. Phillip Garrido confessed to kidnapping and raping Dugard, although both Garridos have pleaded not guilty to numerous charges.
Without question, what Jaycee Dugard endured is beyond comprehension, but it should be patently obvious that California taxpayers weren’t responsible for what happened to her. It’s not our fault she was kidnapped, brutalized, raped and enslaved. Yet we’re paying the fine.
The State is responsible when its employees don’t do their jobs. In this case this criminal’s living areas were not investigated. If the probation officers had done their jobs they would have found her. Why aren’t we being told the names of the individuals who failed and what penalties are being imposed on them to reduce the taxpayer payments. How about cutting off pensions they didn’t earn due to ineptitude.
What are you new?? lol. These guys are our next Attorney Generals and his staff. You know these guys got a promotion, raise, pat on the back and a letter of commendation. Nothing will ever happen to them but someone should make sure they don’t get any profits from their “Tell All Book” soon to be published.
Once again, the taxpayers’ pockets get picked clean to reward the government’s incompetence. For the state’s legislature, money does indeed grow on trees.
better to give it to the victim than the lawyers and court to pay for a show trial as always we would rather beat it to death than do the correct thing.
Exactly tahoeadvocate!! Whose heads are going to roll, whose pensions are getting cut off, who’s losing their jobs for such incompetence?!?!
Jaycee deserves all that $20 mil! But typical. Bureaucrats screw up, yet do they pay a price for their mistakes? No! The taxpayer does!!!
If Jaycee deserves 20 million, less the lawyer payoff, then what about all the other victims of government incompetence. Let’s face it, this was a case of legal extortion.
During her interview with a probation officer, she could not say something to clue the P.O. of her plight. Give me a break on this case of 20-20 hindsight.
Taxpayers get screwed again and the so-called victim wins the lottery and, of course, the lawyers didn’t do so bad.
Weinstein, the retired judge mediator, being a member of the lawyer clan, did himself proud by enriching the legal business, now and into the future.
Will this insanity ever stop? Not while ambulance chasers are given a carte blanche by their colleagues to sue, sue, sue, and sue.
Gee doubleblack, maybe if the probation officer sees some young children around a registered sex offender they should do a little probing?!?!?!? Maybe they should at least look around the guy’s house & yard?! If you say that’s not their job, then what are they getting paid for?