Current:Home > MyNew Hampshire Senate passes bill to expand scope of youth detention center victim settlements -Keystone Capital Education
New Hampshire Senate passes bill to expand scope of youth detention center victim settlements
View
Date:2025-04-14 20:02:41
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Senate on Thursday passed legislation to greatly expand the scope of the out-of-court settlement process to compensate victims of abuse at the state’s youth detention center.
The state faces about 1,200 lawsuits alleging physical, sexual or emotional abuse stretching back six decades at the Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly called the Youth Development Center, in Manchester. As an alternative to litigation, lawmakers established a $100 million settlement fund with a two-year application period that started in January 2023, but most alleged victims have opted to go to court instead. The first trial is set to begin next month.
The Senate voted unanimously and without debate Thursday to make sweeping changes to the settlement process, including adding multiple new categories of abuse. Under the current system, former center residents can make claims based on sexual assault or first- and second-degree physical assault. The bill proposes allowing claims based on a slew of other crimes, including reckless conduct, criminal threatening, child endangerment, solitary confinement, unlawful strip search and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The bill, which now goes to the House, also increases the cap on awards. Currently, victims of sexual assault are eligible for up to $1.5 million, while payments for physical abuse are limited to $150,000. If the bill passes, victims of “egregious sexual abuse” would be eligible for up to $2.5 million, victims of non-sexual abuse could get up to $250,000 and those claiming they were held in solitary confinement could get up to $100,000. The filing period for claims would be extended by six months to June 30, 2025.
Supporters have called it a compromise that will better serve victims while possibly protecting the state from astronomical jury awards. Lawyers representing nearly all of those who have filed lawsuits have said they will recommend the settlement option for most of their clients if the bill becomes law, though hundreds plan to continue litigation.
So far, 307 claims have been filed and 102 have been settled, with an average award of $492,000, Attorney General John Formella told lawmakers last month.
The scandal came to light in 2019 after two former workers were charged with abusing David Meehan, a former resident who filed the first lawsuit in 2020 and has gone public with his story. Eleven former workers are now facing criminal charges, with the first criminal trial and Meehan’s civil trial scheduled for April.
veryGood! (441)
Related
- Small twin
- How many people watched the Harris-Trump presidential debate?
- Democrats claiming Florida Senate seat is in play haven’t put money behind the effort to make it so
- Dealers’ paradise? How social media became a storefront for deadly fake pills as families struggle
- Trump's 'stop
- Man accused of starting Line Wildfire in California arrested as crews battle blaze
- Court could clear the way for Americans to legally bet on US elections
- 2024 MTV VMAs: Suki Waterhouse Shares Sweet Update on Parenthood With Robert Pattinson
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- Dutch adopt US war graves to harbor memories of the country’s liberation 80 years ago
Ranking
- Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
- How Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Reacted to Jason Kelce Discussing His “T-ts” on TV
- Nearly six months later, a $1.1 billion Mega Millions jackpot still hasn’t been claimed
- Utah citizen initiatives at stake as judge weighs keeping major changes off ballots
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- California mom faces felony charges after 3-year-old daughter dies in hot car
- Campbell wants to say goodbye to the ‘soup’ in its name. It isn’t the first to make such a change
- Watch Army veteran literally jump for joy over this surprise gift from his wife
Recommendation
'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
Most Americans don’t trust AI-powered election information: AP-NORC/USAFacts survey
MLB playoff picture: Wild card standings, 2024 division standings
Olympian Jordan Chiles Returns to Spotlight at 2024 VMAs Red Carpet After Bronze Medal Debacle
A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
2024 MTV VMAs: Eminem Proves He’s Still the Real Slim Shady With Rousing Opening Performance
DWTS Alum Lindsay Arnold Speaks Out on Secret Lives of Mormon Wives as a Mormon Herself
Sen. Bernie Sanders said he is set to pursue contempt charges against Steward CEO