The Raid That Paid

The city of Goose Creek, South Carolina, and the Berkeley County School District have agreed to pay $1.6 million to settle a class action lawsuit stemming from a ham-handed, fruitless drug raid at Stratford High School in 2003. Assuming the federal judge overseeing the case approves the agreement, students caught up in the sweep will split $1.2 million, while their lawyers will get $400,000. According to a press release from Students for Sensible Drug Policy that does not seem to be online yet, students "named in the suit and those who received psychological counseling after the raid…could receive about $11,000 each," and other students in the hallway during the raid…could receive about $6,000 each." The principal, who defended the operation after it attracted national attention, is long gone.