In 2012, Ashley Overbey, a Baltimore resident, called the police to report a burglary in her apartment complex. When officers arrived, they forcibly entered and searched her apartment, and when she questioned them they reacted violently. The officers, beat, tackled, choked and tased Overbey. Afterward, the officers called an ambulance to rush Overbey to the hospital, but after she was released she was held in jail overnight and charged with resisting arrest and six counts of assault.
Two years later, the Baltimore Sun reported that these wrongful charges were dropped and that Overbey won a $63,000 settlement. In order to receive her settlement, Overbey was required to sign a non-disparagement agreement, saying that she would not slander the city of Baltimore in any way. One would hope that the settlement would mark the end of an already traumatizing experience, but that was not the case. Commenters on the article that reported Overbey’s settlement accused her of taking advantage of the city, and she responded to defend herself and set the record straight, “I CALLED THEM FOR HELP AFTER MY HOME HAD BEEN BURGLARIZED WHILE I WAS AT WORK!!” she wrote.
Overbey lost half of her settlement for breach of the non-disparagement clause.
The use of non-disparagement clauses, or gag-clauses, force victims to choose between silence and financial compensation. According to the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City has spent over $12 million between 2010 and 2015 on police brutality settlements. In a press release, the ACLU states, “Baltimore City is one of the few jurisdictions in the country that has the practice of requiring gag orders to settle police misconduct cases.”
In 2017, Baltimore City offered Tawanda Jones a settlement with a gag-clause attached, but she chose not to take it. Jones is the sister of Tyrone West, who died in police custody after West allegedly fled a traffic stop. A state autopsy determined that he died due to a pre-existing heart condition that was exacerbated by stress and heat; a separate autopsy commissioned by West’s family stated that he was asphyxiated.
While a criminal trial found the arresting officers not-guilty, West’s family filed a civil suit. Jones was eager for another trial, hoping it would force the truth to come out. However, right before the trial began the city offered the family a settlement. In addition to almost $1 million, the settlement contained a non-disparagement clause. While she was already uneasy at the idea of a settlement- it put a price tag on something priceless, she said- this clause made Jones certain she could not take the settlement. “No way in the world somebody is going to silence my voice, and I am my brothers voice now too… my brother will never fade away” she said.
Jones took her name off of the lawsuit, and the rest of her family took the settlement. According to Jones, the trial would have been too traumatic for them. This is not uncommon; many families and individuals take settlements to avoid reliving painful memories or out of financial need. Now, Jones hosts weekly West Wednesday protests, honoring her brother’s memory and calling for justice for him and other victims of police brutality. Jones reaches out to other families who have lost loved ones to police brutality, and tries to speaks on behalf of those who do not have a voice. Had Jones chosen to take the settlement, none of this would have been possible.
As for the settlement, Jones says that it has not brought her family healing. She says that there is nothing that could explain to West’s children why their father is gone.
No sum of money could possibly ease the pain of the violent loss of a loved one. However, the fact that victims must sacrifice their voices in order to receive financial compensation that could alleviate some of their burden is a tragedy. Victims of police brutality have already been deprived of their lives and sense of personal safety and their families have been deprived of mothers, fathers, siblings and children. They should not be deprived of their voice.