Posted on 07/12/2005 3:08:02 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) Thirty-four years after the deadliest prison uprising in the nation's history, a federal judge proposed a formula Tuesday for dividing a $12 million settlement among survivors and relatives of prison employees caught in the violence at Attica.
About 150 claims were submitted after New York state made a settlement offer this year to Forgotten Victims of Attica, a group representing state employees killed, wounded or taken captive during the four-day ordeal in 1971.
Two families that lost loved ones receive the biggest awards, $550,000 each, while the families of eight severely wounded men will receive $500,000. The smallest awards, $100,000, will go to those held hostage who didn't suffer significant injuries.
``These widows are in my opinion deserving of more than anybody could ever give them, but this money will make a huge impact on their lives, and for that I am grateful,'' said Deanne Quinn Miller, whose father was beaten to death by an inmate in the uprising when she was just 5 years old.
The Forgotten Victims of Attica emerged in 2000 after the state settled a 25-year lawsuit with inmates and their relatives for $12 million.
Families of prison employees claimed they were deceived by state officials into accepting workers' compensation payments that prevented them from suing. Their awards from the new settlement will be paid out over six years.
Eleven corrections officers and 32 inmates died in the uprising at the Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, most of them shot by troopers who fired more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition in six minutes. Hundreds more were wounded.
BTW - Rent the HBO movie "Attica" (actually called Against the Wall) starring Samuel L. Jackson sometime. Really good.
Why were the inmates paid anything?
99.999% goes to the family of the murdered guards, the inmate's family can knife fight for the rest.
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