VICTIM RIGHTS, ADVOCACY, AND JUSTICE
IN OUR POST-9/11 NATION

Though there had been terrorist attacks in the United States prior to September 11, 2001, the events on that day in the skies above America, and in the cities of Washington, DC, New York, NY, and Shanksville, PA led to an unprecedented focus on the rights of victims and survivors, and historical expectations were placed upon our government as Americans looked to our leaders for protection, reparations, and justice. In some estimation, our government reacted swiftly, passing legislative measures that would reinforce the strength of the American economy. In other respects, individuals found it necessary to form private groups to advocate for measures and benefits that would not otherwise have become law without their fight. Certainly, in the realm of victim rights, advocacy, and the demand for justice, our post-9/11 nation has endured a dramatic metamorphosis.

The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund was created by Congress through the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act (49 USC 40101), shortly after 9/11 to compensate victims (or their families) of the attack, should they agree not to sue. There was no such government compensation for other tragedies on American soil, such as the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City or the Katrina hurricane disaster. In this instance, the airlines asked Congress for help, and Congress decided that the airline industry “must remain financially secure; that airline bankruptcies were contrary to the national interest.”

A complaint about the fund was that it was a kind of “blood money”, as this was a no-fault government program, and each participant had to agree that they would not sue the airlines, the World Trade Center, and any other companies connected to 9/11. Despite their hesitation, 2,800 individuals filing claims on behalf of deceased victims entered the program. They received almost $6 Billion in tax-free compensation. In addition, over 4,400 physical injury victims decided that the fund offered a better route than a trip to the courthouse; of these, 2,682 received over $1 Billion in compensation.

A group of four women who lost their husbands on 9/11, the “Jersey Girls” (aka Jersey Widows), along with 8 relatives of victims, formed the 9/11 Family Steering Committee, and became the country’s most outspoken activists, lobbying the U.S. government to investigate the terrorist attacks. This wasn’t for mere financial recovery: When faced with the revelation that we, the 9/11 families, were never going to have our day in court to hold people accountable and to gain valuable information, the widows and I decided to shift gears and fight for a 9/11 Commission. We wanted access to information so we could learn valuable lessons.

This group wanted to examine the actions of the President, Congress, the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the Defense Department, the airlines, the INS, and local authorities to determine whether they failed to do their jobs prior to 9/11. “With no one being held accountable, how do we know this is not still happening?” They testified before the Joint Intelligence Committee of Congress on September 18, 2002, and the following week, the Senate voted 90-8 in favor of an independent commission. SB1867 and HB4777 established the 9/11 Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, and the 9/11 Commission heard testimony from multiple agencies and individuals over the next several years. Their final report was released on July 22, 2004. Upon reading the report, however, the activists were dismayed to find that a great many number of questions were left unanswered. Only within this last year have documents begun to be released under Freedom of Information requests, and a great deal of future lobbying and possibly, litigation, is anticipated.

This group of twelve was not the only group who refused to accept money from the Victim Compensation Fund. More than 500 spouses and family members of those who died on September 11th have united with the sole objective of bankrupting terrorism. They feel that they have isolated the defendants who “knowingly provided financial support and other forms of assistance to Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and the Taliban, thereby helping the terrorists commit the atrocities of 9/11.” As of this writing, the Solicitor General has refused to support the 9/11 Families’ Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the Supreme Court, and the families are currently advocating for the right to have their day in court.

Without requiring the signing of a no-fault clause, The September 11th Fund was created by a New York trust and The United Way of New York City. The Fund collected $534 Million in donations, and distributed a total of 559 grants totaling $528 Million. The focus of these grants was to provide counseling, financial assistance, and other services to those who were injured or displaced from their homes or jobs. Over a period of three years, the Fund administered behavioral, mental health, and substance abuse benefits to families. In total, approximately $7.5 Billion was disbursed in the years following 9/11 through the sources, above. This truly was an unprecedented disbursement to the victims of crime in our country.

In addition to protecting victims through the Compensation Act, the United States underwent the largest restructuring of its government in modern day history. Through the Homeland Security Act, the Department of Homeland Security was formed as a cabinet department for the federal government on November 25, 2002, with the objective of protecting the United States from terrorist attacks, man-made accidents, and natural disasters.

The USA Patriot Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001, to detect and prosecute terrorism. This Act has created much debate over civil rights vs. national security: “In one important and perverse way, these terrorists did succeed in at least one of their aims. Their actions indirectly but significantly changed the relationship between the American citizenry and the government.”
Public policy is always about trade-offs and compromise. In this case, we cannot truly be free unless we have a reasonable degree of safety, but we cannot truly feel safe unless we are also secure from undue prying into our personal lives. Adding to our real or perceived sense of safety comes at the cost of watching us more closely to protect us from harm.

Most notably, in relation to the field of victim rights, the Patriot Act amended the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 in order to make changes how the United States Victims of Crime Fund was managed; both increasing the amount of funding, and changing the distribution policies. Under the modified Act, crime victims of any U.S. territory could be assisted, including those in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. In addition, the modified terms of the Act provided for compensation and government assistance to victims of terrorism and mass-violence. And, on May 26, 2011, President Barack Obama signed a four-year extension of several provisions of the Act. These changes became significant for the future of victim advocacy, as it provided additional rights to the victims of all crime, not only the victims of the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

This report would be remiss without mention of the prevalence of the victimization of Arab, Muslim, Sikh and South Asian Americans after 9/11, individuals who suffered under the backlash of hate crimes and discrimination because it was perceived they shared the ethnicity or religion of the terrorists. On October 19, 2011, members of the advocacy, faith, government, and academic communities gathered at a Summit hosted by the George Washington University School of Law, sponsored by the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. In the week following 9/11, over 600 incidents had been documented, including several murders.

Department of Justice leaders within the first few months after 9/11 attended more than 100 meetings and events with representatives from the Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian communities. The Department created a special backlash crime task force that was staffed with some of the most experienced federal prosecutors within the federal system, both from the Criminal Section within the Civil Rights Division as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys within the various U.S. Attorneys offices across the country. The Task Force created a clearinghouse for documenting complaints of threats of violence and actual violence, conducting investigations, referring cases to state and local prosecutors where appropriate, and, where the facts and the law warranted federal action, prosecuting those acts.

Another group of unexpected “victims” to 9/11 were the rescue and recovery workers who developed debilitating illnesses linked to exposure of carcinogens at the World Trade Center site. Though we are only now beginning to truly understand the long-term health effects of breathing toxic debris, we know that approximately 18,000 individuals have developed illnesses, mostly respiratory, as a result of the more than 2,500 contaminants. Legal disputes over compensation for these illnesses are still pending in the appellate court system. On October 17, 2006, a federal judge rejected New York City’s refusal to reimburse the medical expenses of rescue workers.
The 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, closed in 2003, was reactivated on January 2, 2011 by President Barack Obama, when he signed into law the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010. James Zadroga was an NYPD officer who died from respiratory disease that was attributed to his rescue operations following 9/11. The original Senate-sponsored bill to pass the Zadroga act did not pass in 2006, yet the House passed a modified version of the Act in 2010. The Act allocated $4.2 Billion to create the World Trade Center Health Program, which has the responsibility of providing treatment for individuals who worked in recovery operations post-9/11, as well as survivors of the attack. Two months ago, the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health announced that approximately 50 cancers are being added to the list of conditions for which people may receive both treatment and compensation.

On December 18, 2001, President George W. Bush signed a resolution into law that served as a discretionary day of remembrance on September 11th of each year, Patriot Day. And, on April 23, 2012, by a Proclamation by the President of the United States, Barack Obama proclaimed April 22nd through April 28th as National Crime Victim Rights Week. “I call upon all Americans to observe this week by participating in events that raise awareness of victims’ rights and services, and by volunteering to serve victims in their time of need.”
Not only the victims of terrorism of September 11th, but also Americans who felt profoundly affected by the events on that day, needed a place to go to pay their respects, to show empathy, to mourn. At the Pentagon, in the footprints of the two World Trade Center towers, and in a field in Shanksville, PA, memorials have been created to honor the men, women, and children whose lives were taken prematurely.
Today, leaders have taken initiative to raise awareness about the effects of terrorism.

Students are being educated about world affairs and becoming the leaders of tomorrow; the global context of 9/11 and terrorism is being addressed. A decade ago, many victims were viewed as mere evidence, and their only role was as a witness to a crime. The courts had no idea about victim trauma and victim sensitivity. There were no privacy protections, and no rights to participate. Victims were excluded from court & justice proceedings.

As of 2010, every state has passed victims’ rights laws, and 32 states have constitutional victims’ rights amendments. Today, all states have victim compensation funds, and more than 10,000 victim assistance programs exist throughout the country. The Subcommittee on the Constitution is currently considering the Victim Rights Amendment, which matches constitutional protections for criminal defendants with rights for crime victims.

Over ten years after 9/11, victim rights and the advocacy for those rights continue to expand and remain seated in legislative dialogue. Victim advocates in the last decade have seen financial compensation, reorganization of the government to prevent future terrorist attacks, health coverage for first responders, attention to hate crimes and discrimination, memorials, days devoted to remembrance and the rights of crime victims, and a move towards an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to provide equal rights to the victims of crime. Though the atrocities of September 11, 2001 can never be seen as a positive historical event in United States history, our government, and the people of our nation have shown a distinct commitment to promote resiliency, strength, freedoms, protections, and equality.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Breitweiser, Kristen. Wake-Up Call: The Political Education of a 9/11 Widow. New York, NY: Warner Books, 2006.

The personal experience of a widow, one of the “Jersey Girls”, who lobbied Congress for an independent commission to investigate 9/11; Why the Victim Compensation Fund wasn’t enough, and what she personally did to seek accountability for the terrorist attacks.

Feinberg, Kennedy R. What Is Life Worth?: The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9/11. New York, NY: PublicAffairs™ a member of the Perseus Books Group, 2005.

Personal account of the single individual (the “Special Master”) tasked with managing the program created by Congress (the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund) who had to calculate the dollar value of over 5,000 dead and injured.

Reuter, Dean, John Yoo. Confronting Terror: 9/11 and the Future of American National Security. New York, NY: Encounter Books, 2011.

The impact on domestic policies from the flurry of new legislation following 9/11, including the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security; The impact this legislation has had on America today, and what it means for the future of American national security.

Sheehy, Gail. Middletown, America: One Town’s Passage from Trauma to Hope. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.: 2003.

Wrote about the experience she had over a two-year period with fifty members of the New Jersey community who lost more people in the World Trade Center than any other outside New York City; Follows the four “Jersey Widows” as they fight to expose efforts to cover up failures to connect the dots before September 11th.

Smith, Norris, Lynn M. Messina. Homeland Security. Bronx, NY: H.W. Wilson Company, Inc., 2004.

An overview of the Homeland Security Act; How intelligence gathering affects our civil liberties; Providing an understanding of new laws regarding immigration, border patrol, airways, and ports.

Strozier, Charles B. Until the Fires Stopped Burning: 9/11 and New York City in the Words and Experiences of Survivors and Witnesses. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2011

A psychoanalyst who was involved in the event, and nearly lost his wife; conducted a study into the conscious and unconscious meaning of the terrorist attacks; Found that victims psychologically compared their encounter to the devastation of Hiroshima, Auschwitz, Katrina, and other events.

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[ 1 ]. U.S. Government Printing Office, “Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act”, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ42/html/PLAW-107publ42.htm (accessed 8/2/2012)
[ 2 ]. Feinberg, Kennedy R. What Is Life Worth?: The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9/11. New York, NY: PublicAffairs™ a member of the Perseus Books Group, 2005, 16.
[ 3 ]. Feinberg, 164.
[ 4 ]. Breitweiser, Kristen. Wake-Up Call: The Political Education of a 9/11 Widow. New York, NY: Warner Books, 2006, 86.
[ 5 ]. Sheehy, Gail. Middletown, America: One Town’s Passage from Trauma to Hope. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.: 2003, 378.
[ 6 ]. Breitweiser, 170.
[ 7 ]. See “Fact Sheet on Litigation”, Burnett et al v. Al Baraka Investment and Development Corporation et al, http://www.motleyrice.com/files/9-11-to-bankrupt-documents/fact-sheet.pdf (accessed 8/7/2012)
[ 8 ]. See General Accounting Office “Report on Independent Response of Charities”, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d021037.pdf (accessed 8/2/2012)
[ 9 ]. See “United States Department of Homeland Security”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security (accessed 8/7/2012)
[ 10 ]. Reuter, Dean, John Yoo. Confronting Terror: 9/11 and the Future of American National Security. New York, NY: Encounter Books, 2011, 174.
[ 11 ]. Smith, Norris, Lynn M. Messina. Homeland Security. Bronx, NY: H.W. Wilson Company, Inc., 2004, 86.
[ 12 ]. See “Public Law 107-56”, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ56/content-detail.html (accessed 8/8/2012)
[ 13 ]. See “Confronting Discrimination in the Post-9/11 Era”, http://www.justice.gov/crt/publications/post911/post911summit_report_2012-04.pdf (accessed 8/1/2012)
[ 14 ]. Ibid: “Confronting Discrimination in the Post-9/11 Era”
[ 15 ]. Shukman, David, BBC News, “Toxic Dust Legacy of 9/11 Plagues Thousands of People”, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14738140 (accessed 8/3/2012) and New York Times “What Was Found in the Dust” http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/09/05/nyregion/20060905_HEALTH_GRAPHIC.html (accessed 8/3/2012)
[ 16 ]. DePalma, Anthony, The New York Times, “Many Ground Zero Workers Gain Chance at Lawsuits” (accessed 8/7/2012)
[ 17 ]. CNN, “Bloomberg Urges Passage of 9/11 Health Bill”, http://articles.cnn.com/2010-12-22/politics/911.bill_1_first-responders-funding-votes-house-members?_s=PM:POLITICS (accessed 7/31/2012)
[ 18 ]. See “VCF Covers Cancers: New Ruling Adds Numerous Cancers to Illnesses Covered by 9/11 VCF”, http://www.motleyrice.com/news/view/vcf-covers-cancers-new-ruling-adds-numerous-cancers-to-illnesses-covered-by-9-11-vcf (accessed 8/4/2012)
[ 19 ]. U.S. Government Printing Office, “Joint Resolution”, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ89/html/PLAW-107publ89.htm (accessed 8/7/2012)
[ 20 ]. White House, Office of the Press Secretary, “Presidential Proclamation – National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, 2012”, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/presidential-proclamation-national-crime-victims-rights-week-2012 (accessed 8/7/2012)