The Metro Council voted Tuesday evening to approve the settlement in the federal class-action lawsuit. The settlement, about $100,000 in total, will be borne by four agencies paying no more than $25,000 each: the city government, Louisiana State Police, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office.
Parish Attorney Lea Anne Batson said the city plans to pay $230 to each of the 92 plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The rest of the money under the $25,000 cap for the city-parish will go toward bonding fees, attorney's fees and other costs, Batson said.
East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III had said his office will not prosecute Mckesson and the other protesters booked on misdemeanor counts of obstructing a highway. But the protesters' lawsuit says Mckesson and the others were still required to post substantial bail, pay administrative fees and court costs in order to be released, and that they would have to pay more to have their arrests expunged.