Today, a federal judge awarded plaintiffs $101 million in a lawsuit that was filed against the federal government. FBI officials looked the other way as the plaintiffs were framed for crimes that they did not commit. FBI lawyers said there was no merit to the lawsuit because the FBI had no obligation to come forward with the information it had. The federal judge said that was “absurd.” 


Will the FBI headquarters inform the tourists who visit their facility of its peculiar legal argument? The question sorta answers itself, doesn’t it? 


A great legal victory, to be sure. Unfortunately, I expect the government attorneys will offer a substantially lower amount — or threaten to drag the case through the appellate courts for several more years. Still, this is an important precedent.


It is an outrage that so many wrongfully convicted people get little or no compensation. I don’t know how these politicians can spend the enormous sums that they do and let this go on. Do we need any additional argument for term limits (pdf)?


Previous coverage of this litigation can be found here.