ARFEE: $350,000 pain for taxpayers

When a government employee is found liable for misconduct and punitive damages are awarded, it’s the taxpayers that ultimately pay the award. But taxpayers are innocent parties, so is it right they bear the punishment for the actions of a government employee?

And how did the $350,000 number come into play? Compensatory damages are determined by the actual cost of whatever was lost. (Or the amount the owner would have to pay to replace Arfee with another dog.) Punitive damages can be added to the compensatory award, based on malicious or a grossly negligent act, which certainly qualifies here.

But unless this matter is settled out of court, (and I believe it will be), any additional punitive damages would be determined by a judge or jury. So then the question becomes, will the amount awarded be “fair and reasonable” (an unwritten standard is not to exceed three times the compensatory award), or will they instead decide to “send a message?”

Obviously, the attorney representing Craig James is prepared to argue that a $350,000 message is required to ensure this incident is never repeated.

On behalf of the taxpayers, I certainly hope “fair and reasonable” prevails. Because unfortunately, no amount of money will prevent some other knucklehead from committing a similar, tragic act in the future.

STEVE SHAMION

Post Falls