CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments Thursday about the disputed verdict in a landmark lawsuit over abuse at the state’s youth detention center, questioning whether their decision could bankrupt the state or essentially let it off the hook.
Jurors last year awarded $38 million to David Meehan, who alleged that the state’s negligence allowed him to be repeatedly raped and beaten as a teenager at the Youth Development Center in Manchester. But the state is seeking to reduce the award under a sovereign immunity law that caps individual payouts at $475,000 per “incident.”
Jurors were not aware of the cap, and some later said they wrote “one” on the verdict form to reflect a single case of post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from more than 100 episodes of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
Meehan’s attorneys argue that because jurors found the state was wanton, malicious or oppressive, applying the cap would deprive Meehan of his constitutional right to equal protection. In order of preference, they asked the court to let the $38 million verdict stand, allow the trial judge to determine the number of incidents, order a new trial just on that question or order an entirely new trial.
The state argues that the state’s mismanagement of the facility constitutes a “single incident.” Questioning that logic, Justice Patrick Donovan asked whether that would severely limit the total amount the state would pay to hundreds of others who claim they were similarly abused. The same law that limits individual payouts to $475,000 also caps the state’s total per incident at $3.75 million.
Meehan’s attorney, Dan Deane, said the state’s definition would pave the way for applying the larger cap to “decades of abuse.” But Solicitor General Anthony Galdieri, representing the state, disagreed, saying each case involves different circumstances.
Donovan also considered the opposite scenario, questioning whether a decision in Meehan’s favor would push the state toward bankruptcy given the many other cases yet to be decided. Galdieri said the justices should take the state’s finances into account, and that removing the cap would amount to an authorized appropriation of taxpayer money.
Meehan’s allegations of horrific sexual and physical abuse at the Manchester facility in the 1990s led an unprecedented criminal investigation, nine additional arrests, over 1,100 lawsuits, and the establishment of a settlement fund to compensate victims. Only Meehan’s lawsuit has gone to trial; the rest are on hold pending the outcome of the Supreme Court appeal.
Thursday’s oral arguments came a day after one of the men Meehan accused of abuse was acquitted on three sexual assault charges by a jury that wasn’t able to reach a verdict on five other charges. Stephen Murphy still faces charges related to two other former residents of the facility, now called the Sununu Youth Services Center, and prosecutors could retry him on the five charges on which no verdict was returned Wednesday.
