BALTIMORE: The city of Baltimore must stop withholding tens of thousands of dollars from an alleged victim of police misconduct, despite the citys accusation that the Black woman violated a non-disparagement clause that was part of a 2014 settlement, a federal judge ruled Monday.
The judge wrote that the city must pay Ashley Overbey Underwood the remaining $31,500 due to as part of her settlement, plus interest.
The order comes after a federal appeals court ruled in July 2019 that Baltimores practice of reducing financial settlements to alleged victims of police misconduct when they speak about their experience is unconstitutional, likening the practice to hush money. The ACLU of Maryland had sued on behalf of Underwood in that case.
Underwood had negotiated a $63,000 settlement with the city after suing three police…