OrangeRKN wrote:I was thinking about this difficult hypothetical situation - you are taking a high profile person to court for abuse which you know they have committed, but they offer a substantial donation to a charity that will materially benefit many other victims of similar abuse as a settlement. Morally I would worry about gambling that material benefit on continuing with the court case. That's weighed up against the harder to measure value of justice being seen to be done against the abuser.
Thinking about that helps persuade me that there should be laws against out of court settlements, because settlements can be used as both monetary bribes but also a sort of moral blackmail. It's a kind of coercive control. Another example of a legal system that heavily favours the wealthy and amoral.
Banning out of court settlements for civil cases makes no sense.
If she'd won, she'd have received some kind of damages. If he has offered a settlement she is happy with, than why would she said not settle?
The issue here is less about the civil case settlement and more the fact no criminal charges have even been brought.