Show Me The Money: Caribbean Discrimination Case Awardee Still Not Paid · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

The Caribbean Court of Justice Logo; photo by Mark Morgan, used under a CC license.
The Shanique Myrie case was a landmark event in Caribbean jurisprudence. Last October, the Caribbean Court of Justice ruled that the Barbados immigration was wrong when it strip-searched Ms. Myrie and prevented her from entering the country.  Now, eight months after the ruling, Myrie has still not received the compensation she was awarded in the case – and she is not happy about it.
In the Facebook forum Real Change For Jamaica, some commentators were wondering what was the real motivation behind the case. Gyntaf Gsg wanted to know what was going on:
‘I NEED MY MONEY'…??? Was this what was REALLY behind this showpiece Trial??
EIGHT months after the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled that Jamaican Shanique Myrie be awarded damages for an illegal cavity search, detention in a dank room in the Grantley Adams Airport, and subsequent deportation, she is yet to collect a cent.
ONE…WINNING A CASE IS ONE THING…COLLECTING IS ANOTHER…She could wait eight years.
TWO..The truth has a way of coming out…
Paulette Stanley did not see the problem with Myrie being motivated in part by money:
And??? Justice was done and I am sure those learned judges/attorneys ‘peeped and glared’ down and through her motives. She won the case and an award [was] handed down. So she should be paid. Who cares what her motives are/were? I am sure Rosa Parks or maybe Martin Luther King had selfish motives (could be) but a precedent was set – a line was drawn – never to be crossed. Let us stop tearing down one another. If the greater good (not the motive) will serve another's good it is ALL good!
Boyous Mortley noted that the money was an issue from the very start:
The young lady is on record saying it is a matter of principle and money. These were her words, not [mine]. To be complaining about money represents an antithesis of her position. You cannot twist facts people.
Garnett Spence thought she was right to complain if she has not received her due:
Nothing is wrong about complaining about the money…it was awarded her…that's what a lawsuit is all about – penalizing the perpetrator – and if she can't get her money, should she forget about it?
Ainatarb Bre Kay also saw nothing wrong with Myrie's position:
Ooh…ok then, nothing is wrong with her wanting the money…some will say it shouldn't be about the money, but if she was giving the money to [those] same people…they wouldn't have said it.
On Twitter, many users called for Barbados to pay Myrie the total which was awarded, with some arguing that the CCJ's legitimacy is at stake:
The media stated that #ShaniqueMyrie won the case against the #BarbadianGovt so why the procrastination in paying her?
— alwaysblessed (@authenticity01) June 9, 2014
If is it that Jamaica is helping to finance the CCJ we must stop immediately. It not working out for us and our citizen (Shanique Myrie)
— Dreamz31‏ (@Dreamz31) June 10, 2014
I swear this CCJ business is a fraud 8 months & all now Shanique Myrie cant even get a down payment from a country like Barbados (rich)
— Dreamz31‏ (@Dreamz31) June 10, 2014
Barbados needs to pay Myrie now. AJ needs to step in and help her send a message! We are nobody's footstool!!
— El Comandante (@Aujae_Dixon) June 10, 2014