BookmanTuesday, July 11, 2000 Thanks for posting this. Who among us was not moved at this event? Another instance where I felt blind rage from the blatant disregard for life and the way the powers that me created the whole situation. Not that the inmates were innocent nice guys ... but many were there for political crimes or dope, mostly grass as I recall. And some certainly for more serious crimes. But the system was set up to take people of the right color off the streets. Many became politically conscious in prison and I met some of their students. Many were demanding political change. But what do I know? Would like to hear from people on the list who have personal experience, I find that much more valuable than the political cant, that I sometimes perpetuate myself. Attica was black mark on the American legal system, politics, Rockefeller, the guards as individuals, the soldiers ... I cried when I heard about it and felt helpless rage at confronting the system in their arena of ultimate force. It could still brutalize us all. The prisoners should get the 100 million and those responsible in any way should serve prison time. best, Don Monkerud >>Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2000 23:40:16 -0500 (CDT) >>From: Michael Novick < >> >>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.