The $2 Billion Problem for Lexington

Though not much has been written or aired about it, the recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in its refusal to review the Sixth Circuit decision to overturn a local court decision barring the lawsuits against the city of Lexington in the Ron Berry sexual-abuse, child-molestation case(s), the matter is very serious. The two class-action suits are outstanding in the amount of $1 billion apiece. The city has already anted-up about $3 million, if memory serves, but that might have been covered by the city’s liability insurance.

Even more interesting and disturbing than the potential (most likely, probable) cost in millions of dollars to the city, though certainly not $2 billion, a good figure for beginning out-of-court settlement negotiations, is the quiet but constant hum that through all or at least some of the more than 20 years of Berry’s shenanigans city officials knew what was afoot but did nothing about it. Berry’s agency, Micro-City, supposedly designed to help young African-American men in a number of ways, was at least partly funded by the city of Lexington, making it a prime target for lawsuit juice, smart lawyers realizing how deep the public pockets can be. The potential windfall for the lawyers is substantial.

The tragedy, of course, is that any of the now proven crimes ever happened. Berry was sentenced to three years in prison, a woefully light sentence. Also tragically and with the certain knowledge of their superiors, scores of Roman Catholic priests have made pedophile victims of the young boys in their charge. Most of them have gotten off lightly, though the church has had to cough up tens of millions all over the country to the victims, most of whom came forward many years after the fact. This makes the Lexington matter all the more important, since the precedent set vis-à-vis the statute of limitations is set in concrete.

I wrote a novel based on the Berry case a while back, EDDIE et alia. It also takes up some other matters, such as drunkenness and possible lawsuits against distilleries and involves some pretty rough stuff, even murder and suicide. It’s available at Joseph Beth in Lexington and noted on this site in the right column. Anyone interested is welcome to give it a look.

And so it goes.

Jim Clark