Litigation settlements and public policy

3rd September 2027 How settling litigation is being (wrongly) used for broader political goals * There have been two interesting examples of litigation settlements in the United States being used for wider political goals. In respect of one example, the liberal minded may go Boo! In respect of the other example, the liberal minded may go Hurrah! This post sets out why one should go Boo! to both. * The first example is President Trump’s supposed settlement of his claim against his own government. You may recall that one proposed term of this settlement was the creation of a huge slush fund for his political supporters. Boo! Of course, such a move was illiberal and misconceived. It is not the proper purpose of a settlement agreement to set up arrangements by which over a billion dollars of public money can be distributed to those who broke the law in their political support for Trump. This is instead the sort of thing for which legislation should be used – or not used. Using what is, in…