Denton County Won't Have to Pay For Prosecutor's Lynching, KKK References

In June 2012, attorney William Trantham was riding high. He'd just scored a half-million-dollar jury award on behalf of his client, a black Denton County prosecutor named Nadiya Williams-Boldware who was outraged by racist remarks from colleagues and superiors. Two days after the verdict, District Attorney Paul Johnson fired four of his deputies who were implicated in the harassment.

Trantham's good feelings wouldn't last. In a post-trial judgment, the district judge cut the award by two-thirds, to $170,000, finding that Denton County wasn't responsible for current or future pain and suffering, just "past mental anguish."

On Friday, that figure was cut to $0 by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The justices don't dispute the basic facts of the case. On April 2, 2009, assistant district attorney Cary Piel, a self-described redneck, walked into Williams-Boldware's office to discuss a case involving an African-American woman who had driven through and "desecrated" a historic cemetery.

More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/02/denton_county_wont_have_to_pay.php .