For man wrongly arrested, $4,500 damages a pittance

[Noomi]

The entire article was posted. It was read. Terrible that his name appeared on background checks when he applied for jobs, but its not worth more than a million. He managed to find a job, after all.

Yes...a RELATIVE hired him to push a broom. His life is basically over now, SOLELY because of a corrupt and/or incompetent cop. He should collect MILLIONS.

Yet he has a job. Other people who have been through worse can't even get work, even with family members.

 

[Politico]

He is already at retirement age. He doesn't need to work at this point.

 

[JQPublic1]

Unlawful detention is one thing but slander/ libel is another. Perhaps his short stay in custody of the police was aptly addressed by the paltry compensation but the damage to his name and future well being begs for a far higher award. An even more troubling note is that the judge apparently made no effort to have the man's arrest record expunged of this crime after it was known that he was innocent! That is a travesty which should concern every citizen. Anyone named John Smith out there? If so, perhaps a name change would be a wise consideration!

 

[bianco]

$4,500 is not enough compensation...but the state could be broke...many are in the West these days.

Naming one's baby...'Sunshine Full-Moon Moses Warrior Smith'...is not such a bad idea after all.

What's in a name?
A lot.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national...bi-alarm-bells/2007/05/22/1179601412718.html

Smith - the name that set off FBI alarm bells

May 23, 2007

ELIZABETH SMITH is hardly a menacing moniker, and not the most unusual name - but it appears that was the problem for a 20-year-old student from the northern beaches Sydney who has been denied a visa to travel to the US.

In the latest in a series of glitches with the FBI's travel watch list, Ms Smith's dream of working as a rock-climbing instructor at a US summer camp appears to have been dashed.

"I couldn't believe it. I was devastated. I had been looking forward to it for so long," Ms Smith told the Herald.

"I had been saving for this since the end of last year, working full-time. I've pretty much taken the whole year off to do it."

Ms Smith - who does not have a criminal record - faces being substantially out of pocket because her plane ticket can't be refunded. And her high school friend, Caitlan Statos, will now be travelling alone to the camp.

Remarkably, it appears Ms Smith is not the only Australian woman with the name Smith to be barred from entering the US.

etc