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Warm Regards,
Mary Fetchet
VOICES wants to know what you think about the biggest 9/11 related issue in the news each week. Our first question of the week regards the recent decision to allow most WTC site lawsuits to go forward. Click this link to visit our discussion forum and post your thoughts on the following:
Q: Should New York City or the federal government be legally liable for the illness of workers arising from their work at the WTC site in the months after 9/11?
If you have photographs from the VOICES Commemorative Events or another commemorative event you attended around the September 11th anniversary, we would like to post them on our website. Please email digital photographs to 911livingmemorial@voicesofsept11.org or call our office at (866) 505-3911 to arrange a way to transfer digital or printed photos.
Click to visit the 2006 VOICES Commemorative Events Homepage
VOICES has posted an updated schedule of our teleconference and in-person support groups in the "Healing" section of our new website. As always, VOICES support groups are open to new members, but you must register with our office at 866-505-3911 before participating in a group.
The Sunday evening siblings teleconference will be moving to a new day and will be led by a new facilitator. Michelle Doherty, social worker, will be facilitating the group on Monday nights, beginning on October 23, at 7pm Eastern Standard Time. New members are welcome, however registration is required. If interested, please contact the VOICES office.
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9/11 Worker Lawsuits Against NYC Can Proceed |
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A Federal judge ruled on Tuesday that lawsuits against New York City and nearly 150 private contractors by WTC site rescue, recovery, and clean-up workers could proceed, rejecting the city’s claims of immunity. Because the city was in charge at the site, it was responsible for providing a safe workplace and is liable for adverse health effects suffered by workers after 9/11. Potentially thousands of lawsuits can now move forward. However, Judge Hellerstein did bar lawsuits against Con Ed and companies owned by Larry Silverstein because they had no legal authority over the site.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who has presided over many legal cases related to 9/11, dismissed the city’s claim that the unprecedented disaster of 9/11—and the need in the hours and days after the attacks to search quickly for survivors—should protect the city and its contractors from liability for the dangerous working conditions on the WTC “pile.” Many of the workers at the site, including the three firefighters above, toiled for months with flimsy paper masks or no protection at all from air laden with chemicals and heavy metals.
"If even a minority of the plaintiffs suffered serious injuries to their respiratory tracts arising from the acrid air of September 11, their claims deserve to be heard when a recovery could make a difference in their lives," Judge Hellerstein wrote in his decision, as quoted in Associated Press coverage. Though he acknowledged special conditions in the days after the attacks, Hellerstein said the city allowed clean-up work to continue in dangerous conditions for months, past a reasonable standard for immunity. He added that the various plaintiffs and defendants deserve a speedy resolution to the suits and that he would likely create a special master to vet the merits of the large volume of cases.
The City’s top lawyer said it would appeal: "We believe that as the facts fully emerge, the complex decisions that were carefully and thoughtfully made during the months after 9/11 will demonstrate the enormous good work done by the City and its contractors, and the absence of any legal liabilities," The corporation counsel, Michael Cardozo, is quoted in the New York Sun. Cardozo also said the city will call on Congress to create a victim’s compensation fund to pay for the health care costs of workers who have grown sick from their exposure to toxic air at the WTC site.
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New Trial System for Terror Suspects Created |
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On Wednesday, “in memory of the victims of September the 11th,” President George W. Bush signed a bill creating new rules for prosecuting and interrogating terror suspects. According to President Bush's statement before signing the bill, the Military Commissions Act of 2006 would authorize the CIA to restart its controversial interrogations of high-level suspected terrorists and set up a legal system for bringing them to trial. Read Boston Globe coverage for a quick overview of the new law. Suspected 9/11 plot leaders Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh were among the detainees held and interrogated indefinitely by the CIA in a network of secret prisons around the world. Last month, President Bush announced that Mohammed, Binalsibh and the 12 other terror suspects in the secret program would be transferred to the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for eventual trial by the new Military Commissions.
President Bush invoked the memory of 9/11 several times during remarks at the bill’s signing: “There is nothing we can do to bring back the men and women lost on September 11th, 2001. Yet we'll always honor their memory and we will never forget the way they were taken from us… With this bill, America reaffirms our determination to win the war on terror.” Click here to read a full transcript of the President’s remarks.The Military Commissions Act of 2006 was written in response to a Supreme Court ruling, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, earlier this year that invalidated the system that President Bush had set up for trying terror suspects, saying they required Congressional authorization (read a detailed Wikipedia entry on the decision). President Bush claimed the new Military Commissions law satisfied that requirement, but it is unclear that the new tribunal system will meet Supreme Court approval, and legal challenges along the lines of Hamdan are likely to follow.
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Events and Information for 9/11 Community |
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Sunday, October 22
Tuesday's Children Halloween Party
Time: 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Location: 6581 Hylan Blvd. Mount Loretto, Staten Island
Enjoy an afternoon of fun with Tuesday's Children families of rides, games, arts & crafts, pumpkin picking and decorating. And remember to wear a costume! This event is being generously sponsored by Allstate. RSVP to Dennis at dennis@tuesdayschildren.org or 718 619-2371.
The New York State Psychiatric Institute; The National Center for PTSD at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Boston Healthcare System; (In association with Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and Boston University School of Medicine)
The 9/11 Grief Study Team has recently invited those of you who participated in Phase I to complete Phase II of the 9/11 Grief Survey. The study is aimed at understanding all possible psychological responses to loss. Wherever you are in the grief process, please take half an hour to complete Phase II of the survey. We thought you might be interested in some of the main findings from Phase I.
We found that:
- Many of the people who lost a family member, a friend or a colleague on 9/11 are still grieving.
- Approximately one-half of participants with grief also suffered from symptoms of clinical depression and posttraumatic stress disorder.
- More than one third of the individuals with grief reported that they are interested in treatment programs to help them effectively recover from their loss
These findings underscore enduring consequence of traumatic loss in the context of 9/11 attacks, and have potentially important clinical and public health implications with regard to development of services and treatment programs.
This longitudinal study is aimed at understanding the wide range of psychological responses to loss. Wherever you are in the grief process, please take half an hour to complete Phase II of the survey.
For those who haven’t participated yet in Phase II, but did participate in Phase I, please log onto the study website at www.9-11survey.org .
If you don’t remember your password and PIN code you can request them online in www.9-11survey.org
If you have questions regarding the study please address them to the Principal Investigator, Dr. Yuval Neria from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons and the New York State Psychiatric Institute at ny126@columbia.edu.
For help with your password or PIN code you may also contact Scott Noonan at scott@smartwebs.com
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Afghan Photo Exhibit Returns to Fairfield Cty. |
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An exhibition of photographs taken by young women students in Afghanistan will be on display at Norwalk Community College (West Campus) beginning on
UN Day, October 24. The UN Committee of New Canaan loaned the exhibit to the college.
According to Mr. Knaus, NCC is the third institution to exhibit the photos, which were first shown at the Carriage Barn in New Canaan and later at the Mariposa Museum in Peterborough, New Hampshire. "This is an extraordinary exhibit, because its very poignant images were taken with "point and shoot" cameras in a remote region of Afghanistan by girls who had no previous knowledge of photography", he reported.
The photography project was originally designed to bridge linguistic and cultural differences between New Canaan students and those attending two schools in Afghanistan founded with donations collected by the UN Committee of New Canaan. The exhibit is co-sponsored by Voices of September 11th, New Canaan-based leader in "Building Bridges" with other cultures to counteract terrorism. Mary Fetchet, founder of VOICES, regards "this exhibition as an opportunity to increase respect, acceptance and open-mindedness to another culture."
On opening night, a reception will be held at the East Campus at 6:30, followed by a showing of the film "OSAMA", depicting the life of an Afghan girl during the Taliban regime.
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