When kidnapper and registered sex offender Phillip Garrido and wife Nancy nevertheless have not gone to trial, it was reported by CNN that Jaycee Lee Dugard and her two teenage daughters are the recipients of a $ 20 million settlement from their case against the California State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The lawsuit stemmed from Jaycee Dugard’s claim that parole agents were in dereliction of their duties when they didn’t investigate Phillip Garrido’s residence more, which would have uncovered the imprisonment of both herself and her young daughters in Garrido’s backyard. The bill appropriating the unprecedented $ 20 million Dugard settlement flew through with a 30-1 vote in the California Senate and 62-0 in the California Assembly.
Jaycee Lee Dugard was missing for 18 years
No amount of money can give the now 30-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard and her family back the lost years when she lived in Phillip Garrido’s makeshift backyard prison. But the $ 20 million Dugard settlement will enable Jaycee Dugard to purchase a home, pay for her children’s education and obtain as much therapy as is necessary, among numerous other things. If nothing else, the scrutiny into the California State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s methods could prevent everyone else from going through a similar ordeal. According to department’s report on the matter, “While it is true that Garrido’s California parole was never officially violated … the department failed to properly supervise Garrido and missed numerous opportunities to discover his victims.”
Against Dugard, state officials thought they had a case
While California State officials thought at one point that they might have had enough information on their side to contest Jaycee Lee Dugard’s claim, they ultimately ruled that it wasn’t worth bringing the case before a jury. Their case evidently would have hinged upon jurisdictional matters, CNN explained. However, the public relations nightmare for California would have been disastrous. The state decided against passing the buck and claiming that it was the responsibility of federal parole officers.
Discover more information here:
CNN
cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/01/california.dugard/?hpt=T1
AP report on $ 20 million Dugard settlement:
youtube.com/watch?v=nr7xF52DMRU
