Judge slashes Charlottesville penalties by 90%, from $26M awarded by jury to $2.35M
A memorial for Heather Heyer who was killed. On August 12, 2017, a car was deliberately driven into a crowd of people who had been peacefully protesting the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one and injuring 28. (Getty Images)
(JTA) — The judge in the civil case brought against the organizers of the 2017 white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, that resulted in the death of a protester has slashed the penalties awarded to the victims.
Victims in the case, brought by two Jewish attorneys who have made it their mission to hit neo-Nazis in their bank accounts, are entitled to $2.35 million, not the $26 million that a jury awarded, Judge Norman Moon ruled Tuesday.
Moon’s ruling was expected because he hewed to a Virginia law that caps punitive damages at $350,000, The Washington Post reported. The jury in the case, which wrapped up in November 2021, had awarded $24 million in punitive damages.
Moon left in place $2 million in compensatory damages meant to replace lost wages and other expenses associated with being a victim, bringing the total owed the victims to $2.35 million.
The defendants in the case, five members of extreme right groups that organized the march, said in November that they were broke and would not be able to pay anything. The plaintiffs included the mother of Heather Heyer, a counter-protester who was murdered, and others who were injured or otherwise affected by the attacks.
Integrity First for America, a non-profit whose CEO is Amy Spitalnick, recruited plaintiffs and lawyers for the lawsuit. In a 2020 essay for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Spitalnick said the goal of the lawsuit was to hold far-right organizers “accountable in court for the violence they orchestrated, with the potential to bankrupt and dismantle them through large civil judgments.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs have argued that the size of the original penalties could inhibit violence from the far right, even if the plaintiffs, in this case, cannot obtain the total amount. The two principal lawyers, Roberta Kaplan and Karen Dunn told the Washington Post that they are considering an appeal of Moon’s decision to abide by the $350,000 cap.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
