Jaycee Dugard.....$20M Settlement

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Jaycee, held captive for nearly two decades by a rapist out on parole will receive $20 million from the state of California for her ordeal, during which she bore two children to the man whom officials were supposedly monitoring.
Lawmakers approved the settlement Thursday for Dugard, now 30, and her two daughters, who resurfaced last August after being held in a secret backyard by a suspect identified by authorities as Phillip Garrido.
"It is compensation for three people, for the rest of their lives, who have been horribly damaged over a period of 17 or 18 years," mediator Daniel Weinstein told The Associated Press.

Dugard and her daughters, ages 15 and 12, filed claims in February, saying parole agents with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation began supervising Garrido in 1999 but didn't discover them.The Dugard family members claimed psychological, physical and emotional damages.
"I can't emphasize enough that we've got to be much more prudent in terms of how we provide oversight for released prisoners in the state of California," Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Granite Bay, said.
The money will be used to buy the family a home, ensure privacy, pay for education, replace lost income and cover what will likely be years of therapy, said Weinstein, a retired San Francisco County Superior Court judge. In addition, much of the money will be placed in long-term investments, he said.
"It was not an effort to make reparations for the years of abuse and incarceration or imprisonment against their will, because ... the damages to these people were incalculable," Weinstein said in a telephone interview. "Part of this was a prudent effort by the state to shut off liability from a catastrophic verdict."
Weinstein praised the state for quickly accepting responsibility, and the Dugards for accepting a reasonable settlement at a time when the state faces a $19 billion budget deficit. He said the scope of the claim was unprecedented in his 20 years as a mediator because of the duration of the crime and that it led to the birth of two children.The money will come from the state's hard-hit general fund, which pays for most state operations.
Dugard's mother Terry Probyn filed a claim with the state in February but was not included in the settlement, Weinstein said. Her claim is pending and under negotiation by the corrections department and attorney general's office, said Lynn Margherita, a spokeswoman for the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board.

Dugard's lawyer Dale Kinsella said he could not comment beyond a joint statement issued with the state attorney general detailing how the money will be used.Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the state corrections department, declined comment.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger intends to sign the bill detailing the settlement, spokesman Aaron McLear said.
Lawmakers approved the settlement with a 30-1 vote in the Senate and a 62-0 vote in the Assembly. Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Yuba City, said it was wise for the state to pay the claim quickly rather than fight a court battle that he said "exacerbates the grievous loss of the victims and the lifelong condemnation and pain of their families."

Garrido and his wife Nancy have pleaded not guilty to charges that they kidnapped and raped the young woman. Dugard and her children were hidden at the Garrido home in the eastern San Francisco Bay area city of Antioch.
 And so now we know what 18 years of a young woman's life in captivity is worth in California. I hope the money helps but it can't erase those nightmare memories and it can never make normal the little girls born into that nightmare.  Raised in captivity, they lived almost like animals. Will they ever adapt to life outside the squalor and isolation they were used to?
A verdict of guilty and a life long sentence for the perpetrators of this nightmare would also go a long way to repair some of the harm and constitute a little justice and closure for Jaycee.