Iowa. (so yes, but only that state)
It hides well because while it’s plainly blood money, it’s phrased and formed as restitution
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There is this thing in the US called prosecutorial discretion. Which is supposed to be used by a prosecutor to decline to charge someone when criminal charges would be against the interests of justice. This case, this girl, the prosecutor should never have charged her.
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I’m going to take a wild guess, and say in addition to the usual bigotry that leads to… uneven… application of prosecutorial discretion, Iowa’s chief prosecutors being elected officials probably had some role in the decision to charge Ms Lewis.
Can’t let the voters think you’re “soft on crime,” so better charge her because that’s the letter of the law - doesn’t matter how clearly unjust it is, or that this is exactly the kind of situation that prosecutorial discretion exists for.
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My understanding is that the estate of a person who has died can be sued, but that there is a very narrow window of time (depending on the state) in which to do so, usually on the order of months.
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I know that you can’t invoice people for unsolicited services rendered, as a general rule; but taking care of a real gentlemen like the ‘victim’ here has to be something the people who used to have to deal with him should be paying you for.
Maybe there’s still hope for humanity.
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<cynicism level="100%">
I’m waiting for a court ruling that the donations are 1) not usable for paying off the wergild, 2) proceeds of crime which are to be forfeited to the state.
I’m also hoping I’m wrong.
</cynicism>
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This line from the linked original story is encouraging.
Lynn Hicks, chief of staff for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, said Thursday the attorney general’s office is not aware of anything that would prohibit the donations from being used to pay Lewis’ restitution.
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A pessimist can only ever be pleasantly surprised.
I hope to be pleasantly surprised more often in future.
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I didn’t know we had weregild laws in the U.S.
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