From: "Marpessa Kupendua" To: Save Address Subject: [Y4M] !*500+ Attica prisoners file for share of settlement Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 11:59:53 -0400 ReplyReply AllForwardDeletePreviousNextClose FORWARDED MESSAGE ==================== From: Michael Novick Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2000 3:00 AM > 500-plus inmates from Attica uprising seek compensation > > ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) More than 500 inmates caught in the deadly 1971 Attica > uprising have come forward to seek a share of the $8 million in > compensation offered by New York state. > > The legal deadline ran out Friday for claims by inmates who maintain they > were tortured, beaten and denied medical treatment in the aftermath of the > revolt and the bloody efforts by authorities to put it down. > > State police launched an all-out assault on the maximum-security Attica > Correctional Facility near Buffalo on Sept. 13, 1971, the fifth day of the > uprising. In all, 32 inmates and 11 guards died, most of them killed during > the raid, and hundreds more were wounded. > > The U.S. District Court here said 518 claims had been filed by Friday > afternoon but more mailed with Friday postmarks were expected to filter in. > ''My estimate is, when the dust settles, it will be over 550,'' said > Elizabeth Fink, the chief lawyer for the former inmates. > > Of the 1,281 inmates who were in prison yard ''D'' when police stormed the > prison, hundreds have since died. By year's end, the judge will divide the > money between the claimants most of them former inmates in their 50s or > older. > > Dozens of former inmates testified in the federal court about their > harrowing experiences in the hours after the prison was recaptured. Inmates > were forced to run naked through a gantlet of law enforcement officers who > hit them with clubs and nightsticks. > > In agreeing to settle, the state admitted no wrongdoing and agreed to pay > the inmates $8 million and their lawyers $4 million in legal fees and > costs. The original class-action lawsuit in 1974 sought $100 million in > damages. > > > In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is > distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior > interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research > and educational purposes only. > > Join the "stop police abuse" list at > > > People Against Racist Terror (PART) PO Box 1055 Culver City CA 90232 > Tel.: 310-495-0299 E-mail: > URL: > Order our quarterly print publication: > "Turning the Tide: Journal of Anti-Racist Action, Research & Education" > > Mumia Must Live!End the racist death penalty! > Free Leonard Peltier, Linda Evans, Mutulu Shakur, Oscar Lopez > and all political prisoners and P.O.W.'s in U.S. prisons! Stop the execution! New trial for Mumia! Youth & Students for Mumia http://www.mumia2000.org To subscribe or unsubscribe email: youth-4-mumia-owner@egroups.com