Although there was money involved in the settlement, one of the most important things was the public apology (not public enough, in my opinion!).

You can read Dwyer's apology letter here and the Aicardi apology here.

This all started 2 years ago, when Yale's a cappella group (TheBaker's Dozen), on a national tour, attended a New Year's Eve party in the Richmond District. The trouble began when they sang "The Star Spangled Banner" at midnight, and 19-year-old Rich Aicardi began making fun of them.

"Rich was behind me and he said, 'This is the gayest shit he ever heard and what a bunch of fags,'" said Hunter Fairman, a witness.

The two sides argued and Rich Aicardi called in reinforcements.

"He said, 'I'm 20 deep, my boys are coming,'" said Reno Rapagnani, the homeowner.

A surveillance camera caught Aicardi's brothers and friends arriving in a van. They picked off members of The Baker's Dozen as they left the party, punching and kicking them. The Yale students suffered black eyes, sprains, a concussion, but the worst was what Sharyar Aziz suffered.

"Besides any bruising or scrapes to the face, the main injury I suffered was I broke my jaw in two places," said Aziz, a Yale student.

Prosecutors charged Rich Aicardi and his friend, Brian Dwyer with felony assault, but a judge tossed out the case. Witnesses could not connect them to the attack on Yale student Evan Gogel and no one was charged in Sharyar Aziz's beating.

"We filed the civil lawsuit because it was the only way that justice was going to be had in this case," said Whitney Leigh, an Aziz family lawyer.

Attorneys for the Aziz family would not disclose the amount of the settlement, only saying "it's significant".

I personally think the apologies should have been televised, and a website made with the apologies. If the justice system isn't going to punish the lowlife dregs of the earth as they should, then everyone should know just what kind of animals they are.