The figure, almost double
the amount agreed upon in court, accounts for the final sum of nearly $5
million in lawyers' fees from nine years of litigation, as well as the $6.2
million in compensation for nearly 900 people detained or arrested on charges
later dropped.
The Chicago Tribune cites
the turning point in the city's years-long battle against the suit was a March
2011 decision issued by Judge Richard Posner of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals calling the city's handling of the protests "idiotic." The
decision implicated the city because police did not give protesters the
opportunity to disperse before arresting them.
After accounting for the
city's own legal fees, the lawsuit cost Chicago more than $15 million total,
the newspaper said. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who inherited the case when he
assumed office in May, decided to settle because continuing to fight the suit
would actually cost the city even more money.
Officials told the Tribune
they have learned valuable lessons from the settlement. When it comes to
protests, police have been careful not to make arrests unless absolutely
necessary.