Those settlements need to come out of police retirement funds, to better align interests.

> Those settlements need to come out of police retirement funds, to better align interests

If the sheriff, DA and judge each thought this was a good idea, it's fair for the voters who hired them to take the hit.

Are sheriff, DA and judge directly electable positions then? I thought they were appointed by the Council or Senate (no, I don't live in the US nor do I have any desire to).

> Are sheriff, DA and judge directly electable positions then?

Even if they're not, they're local enough positions that electeds have significant--if not final--say over their appointment.

In some places in the states, yes, all three can be elected.

Typically the sheriff is always elected, the DA almost always elected, and for the judges it depends, but if they aren’t elected they are appointed by elected officials.

The other thing to remember is that the US judicial system varies tremendously by state. No two states are the same so there is no easy way to summarize it.

Hardly. 1983 claims have been cut to ribbons by the courts. Suing the individual officials for violating your rights is basically impossible because of extremely broad qualified immunity for the cops and even stronger prosecutorial immunity for the DAs. Suing the state office is also extremely difficult since you have to show a ridiculous pattern of violations rather than just that your rights were violated in this case.