$ 20 million settlement for Jaycee Lee Dugard and children

While kidnapper and registered sex offender Phillip Garrido and wife Nancy still 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 easily with a 30-1 vote in the California Senate and 62-0 in the California Assembly.

Source for this article: Jaycee Lee Dugard and kids receive $ 20 million settlement by Personal Money Store

For 18 years, Jaycee Lee Dugard was missing

No amount of money will be able to give 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 many other things. If nothing else, possibly the scrutiny into the California State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s methods might prevent others 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

When California State officials thought at one point that they might have had enough data on their side to contest Jaycee Lee Dugard’s claim, they ultimately ruled that it was not worth bringing the case before a jury. Their case evidently would have hinged upon jurisdictional matters, reports CNN. Sadly, public relations for California would are really icky. The state claimed that it was the responsibility of federal parole officers (rather than California State parole officers).

Find more details here:

CNN

cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/01/california.dugard/?hpt=T1

AP report on $ 20 million Dugard settlement:

youtube.com/watch?v=nr7xF52DMRU