An interesting reminder that civil rights doesn't just have to do with minorities:

By David Propper & Isabel Keane @ Rockland/Westchester News, Aug. 14

Anthony DiPippo, who was found not guilty of a grisly rape and murder after his third trial, settled with Putnam County for $12 million, the county announced today, a move the district attorney lashed out against.

After being convicted of raping and murdering 12-year-old Josette Wright at two separate trials, DiPippo was acquitted in 2016 after 20 years behind bars, and walked away a free man.

DiPippo was alleged to have committed the crime with his friend Andrew Krivak, who remains in jail after he was convicted in 1997, but was granted a new trial last year. The Putnam County District Attorney's Office's appeal of that ruling is pending. 

Following his acquittal, Putnam County was exposed to liability for federal civil rights violations, including wrongful conviction and due process claims. Despite this, Putnam County's District Attorney Robert Tendy blasted the legislature's decision, saying the call was "foolish and totally uninformed." 

"I'm 100 percent opposed to it. I think it's an incredibly foolish and uninformed and dangerous decision that the legislature has done," Tendy said [....]