I'm not sure why you were down-voted. You make a decent point--though I'm not sure what the solution to this problem is short of abolishing civil penalties alto

I'm not sure why you were down-voted. You make a decent point--though I'm not sure what the solution to this problem is short of abolishing civil penalties altogether. (Though I suppose it would be possible to set up some rather complex system where future plaintiffs can recover from the previously collected civil penalties held by the state,) And certainly the issue you point out doesn't justify the "Yay, graft!" comment above.