Nebraska county to seek state help paying $28.1M judgment

[TexasTowelie]

LINCOLN, Neb. — Residents of a small Nebraska county that owes $28.1 million to six people wrongfully convicted of a 1985 rape and murder will seek a bailout from the state now that their appeals are nearly exhausted, but some lawmakers aren't interested in helping them avoid a big property tax increase.

Community leaders in Gage County plan to ask lawmakers and Gov. Pete Ricketts for state funding or a loan to help pay the civil judgment owed to the former inmates, known as the Beatrice Six. They served a combined 70 years in prison for the slaying of 68-year-old Helen Wilson before being released a decade ago.

Gage County Supervisors voted last month to raise the county's property tax levy by 11.76 cents per $100 of valuation, the highest they can go without submitting the issue to voters. The higher tax will generate about $3.8 million next year.

For the owner of a $150,000 home, the increase amounts to an extra $177 in taxes annually. Land-rich farmers who have already seen their property taxes soar would pay substantially more at a time when low grain prices have squeezed their margins.

Read more: https://siouxcityjournal.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/nebraska-county-to-seek-state-help-paying-m-judgment/article_53edd099-f139-5544-89e7-73f41d6ee351.html

[TheFarseer]

1. Totally sucks for people that had nothing to do

With a wrongful conviction. Who should pay for this type of thing is a really good question although i certainly dont begrudge the wrongfully convicted people the money.

[SWBTATTReg]

2. These people were wrongfully accused of a crime and convicted. The county that did it should ...

pay. What other recourse do the wrongfully convicted people have? If the county can't or won't pay, then their assets should be seized like it would w/ any of us in the normal world and used to pay off the judgment, which was made either by a judge elected by the state of Nebraska or the county, or the residents of the county as jurors. I hope that the six put liens on everything owned by the county, everything! Settle the $28.1 million by paying over fifty years $1 million bucks a year after an initial lump sum payment of some amount.

The lives of these six people can never be the same. Those that caused it should suffer. That it falls onto everyone's shoulders may seem unfair, but these folks elected the politicians, hired the police force, etc. that wrongfully convicted these six people. I don't feel sorry for the county what-so-ever.

[RainCaster]

3. A lesson to be learned here...

If you vote for a judge whose mind is already made up on an issue, it might come back to haunt you. It has in Gage County- just think what might happen with the SCOTUS.