Judge says $475,000 award in New Hampshire youth center abuse case would be ‘miscarriage of justice’

By HOLLY RAMER
Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The judge who oversaw a landmark trial over abuse at New Hampshire’s youth detention center says capping the verdict at $475,000 would be a “miscarriage of justice.” Jurors awarded $38 million to a man who said he was beaten and raped hundreds of times at the Youth Development Center but found the state liable for only one incident of abuse. Jurors weren’t told that state law caps claims against the state at $475,000 per “incident,” and some later said they wrote “one” to reflect a single case of post-traumatic stress disorder. Judge Andrew Schulman will hold a hearing next month on options to address the dispute. He said in an order Wednesday that imposing the cap would be wrong.