On the City of Baltimore Awarding the Family of Freddie Gray a $6.4 Million Settlement (One of the Largest on Record), Prior to a Civil Case Being Brought and Prior Even to a Jury Being Selected in the Criminal Case

This is horrible on so many grounds. a) Gray had zero earning potential and so even a tenth of this amount would have been ludicrous. b) The city is essentially destitute and doesn't have the cash. c) By doling the money out prior to the trial, you're contaminating the jury pool (the settlement being seen as an admission of guilt) and making a fair trial much more unlikely. d) It sets a terrible precedent (the fact that aggrieved people will be far more likely to think that they can fleece the taxpayers). And e) the poor bastard, being that he was a pusher, probably would have ended up being murdered in several years anyway.......You want to know why these cities are in such miserable shape? Here's at least a section to that jigsaw puzzle.