In the context of Mirth & Girth, explore the Settlement and aftermath of the Nelson v. Streeter.
On September 20, 1994, the city and the ACLU reached a settlement. The ACLU agreed to drop claims against the city and Superintendent LeRoy Martin. In return, the city of Chicago agreed to pay Nelson and the ACLU $95,000 (1994, equivalent to $188,000 in 2022) for damage to the painting and to issue police procedures about what materials protected by the First Amendment may be seized. The elected officials also agreed not to appeal the district court's ruling. Left unresolved were the hundreds of thousands of dollars of legal fees owed to lawyers defending Tillman, Rush and Streeter; by September 1994, $200,000 (1994, equivalent to $395,000 in 2022) in fees were owed by Tillman alone. Earlier in the year, the City Council's Finance Committee voted against paying for the aldermen's legal fees. The vote split along racial lines, 12 to 8.Grossman stated that the relatively small settlement showed that Nelson had proceeded with the lawsuit "on a matter of principle". Tillman, however, called the settlement a "great victory", saying, "we didn't admit to anything, all the charges were dropped, we're not paying anything (in damages), and we preserve our rights to pursue efforts to have our legal fees paid". At the time the lawsuit was settled, Nelson did not issue any statements. The Chicago Tribune reported that he was employed as an advertising artist at an undisclosed firm; he continued to paint in his free time. As of 1994, the painting had not been sold, exhibited, or repaired after the incident.
First Amendment Chicago Chicago Tribune aldermen City Council