Shirley Sherrod (born November 20, 1947) is the Executive Director for the Southwest Georgia Project and Vice President of Development for New Communities at Cypress pond. Sherrod is a civil rights activist who has devoted most of her life advocating for farmers and rural residents. Sherrod has been the recipient of various praises such as; The Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Sojourner-Douglas College , being inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame , and awarded the James Beard Leadership Award.
26-474: Sherrod (née Miller) was born in 1948 in Baker County , Georgia , to Grace and Hosie Miller . In 1965, when she was 17 years old, her father, a deacon at the local Baptist Church, was shot dead by a white farmer, reportedly over a dispute about livestock. No charges were returned against the shooter by an all-white grand jury . This was a turning point in her life and led her to feel that she should stay in
52-441: A lawsuit as a result of an injury, it is common for someone to seek money both in compensation for actual money that is lost and for the pain and stress associated with virtually any injury. In a suit, pain and suffering is part of the "general damages" section of the claimant's claim, or, alternatively, it is an element of "compensatory" non-economic damages that allows recovery for the mental anguish and/or physical pain endured by
78-407: A certain amount for pain and suffering, the jury or the insurance adjuster will award pain and suffering money for differing reasons. In practice, historically tort cases involving personal injury often involve contingent fees , with attorneys being paid a portion of the pain and suffering damages; one commentator says a typical split of pain and suffering is one-third for the lawyer, one-third for
104-436: A deposition as part of pretrial discovery. Sherrod was represented by the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis . In October 2015, the parties reached a settlement on undisclosed terms, issuing a joint statement saying: "The parties regret the harm that Mrs. Sherrod suffered as a result of these events. In a gesture they hope will inspire others to engage in the difficult but critically important process of bridging racial divides,
130-501: A jury may not exceed in awarding damages. The personality of the plaintiff, their witnesses and overall effect of the injuries which befell the victim plaintiff will play a powerful role in any damage award if damages are even awarded once liability issues are satisfied. The power and personality of the lawyer representing her or his client also may factor into a high money damage award case. Such awards may follow in house insurance guidelines with some leeway granted to adjusters to adjust
156-431: A visible scar on the face can lead to painful feelings of constant embarrassment and insecurity. The amount of money damages a claimant gets for pain and suffering will also depend upon the amount claimed in a lawsuit if such is filed or the amount demanded to the responsible party in the underlying claim if it is an insurance claim. Even though a lawyer representing a client in an injury negligence -based lawsuit may claim
182-792: The Georgia General Assembly and is named for Colonel John Baker , a hero of the American Revolutionary War . Baker County is included in the Albany , GA metropolitan statistical area . The Baker County Courthouse (Georgia) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Three other properties in Newton are also listed on the register: Notchaway Baptist Church and Cemetery , Pine Bloom Plantation , and Tarver Plantation . According to
208-597: The South to bring about change. Several months after Miller's murder, a cross was burned at night in front of the Miller family's residence with Grace Miller and her four daughters, including Shirley, and infant son, born after her husband's killing, inside. That same year, Sherrod was among the first black students to enroll in the previously all-white high school in Baker County. Eleven years later, Grace Miller became
234-637: The U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 349 square miles (900 km ), of which 342 square miles (890 km ) is land and 7.2 square miles (19 km ) (2.1%) is water. The eastern half of Baker County is located in the Lower Flint River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The western half of the county is located in the Ichawaynochaway Creek sub-basin of
260-558: The 2018 gubernatorial race , and in 2020, Trump won Baker County by nearly sixteen percentage points. 31°20′N 84°27′W / 31.33°N 84.45°W / 31.33; -84.45 Pain and suffering Pain and suffering is the legal term for the physical and emotional stress caused from an injury (see also pain and suffering ). Some damages that might come under this category would be: aches, temporary and permanent limitations on activity, potential shortening of life, depression or scarring . When filing
286-664: The Department of Agriculture in Georgia "to help negro farmers keep their land." In 1969, Sherrod and her husband were among the U.S. civil rights and land collective activists co-founding New Communities , a collective farm in Southwest Georgia modeled on kibbutzim in Israel. According to scholarship by land trust activists Susan Witt and Robert Swann , New Communities ' founding in 1969 by individuals such as
SECTION 10
#1732790311867312-655: The Sherrods connected to the Albany Movement served as a laboratory and model in a movement toward the development of Community Land Trusts throughout the U.S.: "The perseverance and foresight of that team in Georgia, motivated by the right of African-American farmers to farm land securely and affordably, initiated the CLT movement in this country." Located in Lee County, Georgia , the 5,700-acre (23 km) project
338-437: The claim in order to prevent the claim from being fully litigated in court. There is a wide range of levels of compensation which may fluctuate seasonally and with the economy and dictates of the insurance industry setting the varying levels of compensation to claimants. Some insurers have experimented with using computers which tabulate the data that is presented and grant the adjuster a level of money authority for which to settle
364-531: The claimant as a result of injury for which the plaintiff seeks redress. Apart from money damages awarded in trial, money damages are also given informally outside the judicial system in mediations , arbitration (both of which may be court annexed or non litigated claims) as well as in routine insurance settlements. Individual claimants or those represented by lawyers often present demands to insurers to settle for money. These demand for bodily injury compensation monies often set out damages that are similarly used in
390-531: The communal farm in which Sherrod and her husband had partnered. In 2009, chief arbitrator Michael Lewis ruled that the USDA had discriminated against New Communities by denying a loan to the operation and extending more favorable terms to white farmers. New Communities received a $ 12.8 million settlement that included $ 8.2 million in compensation for loss of farm land, $ 4.2 million for loss of income and $ 330,000 to Sherrod and her husband for "mental anguish" . Sherrod
416-801: The complete, unedited video in full context, the NAACP, White House officials, and Tom Vilsack , the United States secretary of agriculture , apologized for the firing, and Sherrod was offered a new position with the USDA. In February 2011, Sherrod filed a lawsuit against Andrew Breitbart and co-defendant Larry O'Connor in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia ; in her complaint , Sherrod accused Breitbart of defamation , false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress . Following Breitbart's death in 2012, Breitbart's estate
442-552: The county in 1968 as a third-party candidate. In 1956, Adlai Stevenson received over 96 percent of the county's vote. The county voted Democratic consistently from 1976 until 2012, but by closer margins than in 1956, and the county shifted more to the right throughout the early 2000s. In 2008 Barack Obama won with just 50.1 percent to John McCain 's 49.1 percent, while Donald Trump won the county by almost ten percent in 2016, despite declining on Mitt Romney ’s performance statewide. Brian Kemp repeated this feat by double digits in
468-541: The court litigated pleadings. Demands are usually written summaries of a claimant's medical care and the facts which resulted in the injury. The settlement a person receives for their pain and suffering depends on many factors. This includes the severity of the injury, type of medical treatment received, the length of recovery time, and potential long term consequences of the personal injuries. In addition to physical pain, claimants can also cite emotional and psychological trauma in their pain and suffering claims. For example,
494-769: The first black woman elected to a county office, one she continued to hold, as of 2010. Sherrod attended Fort Valley State College and later studied sociology at Albany State University in Georgia while working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the Civil Rights Movement where she met her future husband, minister Charles Sherrod . She went on to Antioch University in Yellow Springs, Ohio where she earned her master's degree in community development . She returned to Georgia to work with
520-459: The parties have agreed to resolve this lawsuit on confidential terms." Baker County, Georgia Baker County is a county in Georgia . As of the 2020 census , the population was 2,876, making it the fifth-least populous county in Georgia . The county seat and only city is Newton . The county was created December 12, 1825, from the eastern portion of Early County by an act of
546-410: The physician, and one-third for the plaintiff. Jury awards for pain and suffering may vary depending upon socio-economic and political factors within the community from which the jury is drawn. In most states the maximum monetary amount awarded for pain and suffering is capped at what is listed in the particular suit or written complaint. In some jurisdictions there are maximum amounts set in law which
SECTION 20
#1732790311867572-694: The project's ultimate demise in 1985. After Sherrod and her husband lost their farm when they were unable to secure United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans, they became class action plaintiffs in the civil suit Pigford v. Glickman . The department agreed to a settlement in which compensation was paid between January 1, 1981, and December 31, 1999, in what has been described as "the largest civil rights settlement in history, with nearly $ 1 billion being paid to more than 16,000 victims." A federal law passed in 2008 — with then-Senator Barack Obama's sponsorship — to allow up to 70,000 more claimants to qualify, which included New Communities, for
598-472: The same ACF River Basin. As of the 2020 United States Census , there were 2,876 people, 1,425 households, and 788 families residing in the county. Baker County School System operates public schools. Like most Deep South counties, Baker County is historically Democratic. Starting in 1964, the county began to see a realignment, with Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon carrying it in 1964 and 1972, and American Independent candidate George Wallace winning
624-544: Was hired by the USDA in August 2009 as the Georgia director of rural development , the first black person to hold that position. On July 19, 2010, Shirley Sherrod was forced to resign from her USDA position after blogger Andrew Breitbart posted a selectively-edited video of Sherrod's address to a March 2010 NAACP event onto his website. Reacting to these video excerpts, the NAACP condemned her remarks and U.S. government officials called on her to resign. However, upon review of
650-401: Was one of the largest tracts of black-owned land in the U.S. The project soon encountered difficulties in the opposition of area white farmers, who accused participants of being communists , and also from segregationist Democratic Governor Lester Maddox , who prevented development funds for the project from entering the state. A drought in the 1970s and inability to get government loans led to
676-415: Was substituted as a defendant. The defendants removed the case to federal court . The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon , who repeatedly expressed frustration with the U.S. government's delays in providing discovery . In July 2014, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned Judge Leon's order directing Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack to give
#866133