What O.J. Simpson and Scott Peterson have in common
What do a former NFL star/convicted felon and a recently retired Broward County Sheriff's deputy accused of cowardice at the Parkland mass shooting have in common? Both are receiving hefty pensions for the rest of their lives.
O.J.'s NFL pension pays him more than $25,000 per month according to multiple sources. Some sources also claim he has as much as $5 million invested in a private pension. Based on Mr. Peterson's more than 32 years of service with the Broward Sheriff's department, he will receive a pension of $8,702 per month for the rest of his life.
Those pensions are safe from people who sue these two individuals because of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1972. The wrongful death judgment handed down against Simpson in 1997 awarded the family of Ronald Goldman $33.5 million. With interest, that judgment has reportedly grown to more than $70 million. But ERISA protects his pension from being seized to pay off any portion of that judgment.
There will be wrongful death suits filed by the families of the victims of the mass shooting at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. One has already been filed. Mr. Peterson's pension is safe from those lawsuits. Fox News reported that the pension might be in jeopardy, referencing an article in the Orlando Sun Sentinel.
"Peterson hasn't been criminally charged in relation to the shooting, but his pension benefits could possibly be forfeited according to the Sentinel, pending a Florida state inquiry into how police responded to the shooting."
In fact, the only way he could lose the pension would be if he was criminally charged and convicted. This is from the Sun Sentinel's article:
"Neither the sheriff's office nor the state attorney have indicated 'any charges or other circumstances' that would justify withholding Peterson's pension, Erin Rock, secretary for the Department of Management Services concluded in a letter dated March 28th."
Remember Jerry Sandusky, the disgraced assistant football coach at Penn State who was convicted of multiple accounts of child molestation? He was receiving a pension of $4,900 per month at the time and it was revoked. Then it was reinstated. Why? Because the law in Pennsylvania did not make child molestation a crime for which a pension could be revoked until 2004. Sandusky retired in 1999 and was not a government employee at the time of those post-2004 offenses for which he was convicted. A judge ruled in 2015 that the state could not revoke his pension.
All of the public outrage over this won't change a thing. ERISA is the law of the land and unless it is changed, these men will continue to draw their pensions. At least Jerry Sandusky won't be able to spend any of his pension anywhere but the prison commissary for the rest of his life.
O.J.'s NFL pension pays him more than $25,000 per month according to multiple sources. Some sources also claim he has as much as $5 million invested in a private pension. Based on Mr. Peterson's more than 32 years of service with the Broward Sheriff's department, he will receive a pension of $8,702 per month for the rest of his life.
Those pensions are safe from people who sue these two individuals because of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1972. The wrongful death judgment handed down against Simpson in 1997 awarded the family of Ronald Goldman $33.5 million. With interest, that judgment has reportedly grown to more than $70 million. But ERISA protects his pension from being seized to pay off any portion of that judgment.
There will be wrongful death suits filed by the families of the victims of the mass shooting at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. One has already been filed. Mr. Peterson's pension is safe from those lawsuits. Fox News reported that the pension might be in jeopardy, referencing an article in the Orlando Sun Sentinel.
"Peterson hasn't been criminally charged in relation to the shooting, but his pension benefits could possibly be forfeited according to the Sentinel, pending a Florida state inquiry into how police responded to the shooting."
In fact, the only way he could lose the pension would be if he was criminally charged and convicted. This is from the Sun Sentinel's article:
"Neither the sheriff's office nor the state attorney have indicated 'any charges or other circumstances' that would justify withholding Peterson's pension, Erin Rock, secretary for the Department of Management Services concluded in a letter dated March 28th."
Remember Jerry Sandusky, the disgraced assistant football coach at Penn State who was convicted of multiple accounts of child molestation? He was receiving a pension of $4,900 per month at the time and it was revoked. Then it was reinstated. Why? Because the law in Pennsylvania did not make child molestation a crime for which a pension could be revoked until 2004. Sandusky retired in 1999 and was not a government employee at the time of those post-2004 offenses for which he was convicted. A judge ruled in 2015 that the state could not revoke his pension.
All of the public outrage over this won't change a thing. ERISA is the law of the land and unless it is changed, these men will continue to draw their pensions. At least Jerry Sandusky won't be able to spend any of his pension anywhere but the prison commissary for the rest of his life.
posted by me at 10:46 AM
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