NYCLA Presents Screening of Documentary Out of the Ashes: 9/11 on February 23 January 12
On Wednesday, February 23 January 12 at 6:00 PM, the New York County Lawyers' Association (NYCLA) is hosting a documentary at its Home of Law at 14 Vesey Street, Out of the Ashes: 9/11, which profiles seven 9/11 families and provides an unprecedented glimpse of the impact that the largest entitlement program to date, the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, had when it distributed $7 billion to over 5,500 families.
The documentary was written, co-directed and produced by Marilyn Berger, a professor at Seattle University School of Law and director of Films for Justice Institute, a non-profit project sponsored by Seattle University with a generous contribution from the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (JAMS). Professor Berger will participate in a question-and-answer session following the screening.
The families highlighted include: a retired firefighter whose son was one of 343 firefighters killed, the widow of the co-pilot of Flight 93, a woman whose husband was killed and whose journey was further complicated because her husband was an undocumented worker, a widow of an insurance agent who rejected the Fund and felt compelled to file a lawsuit in order to demand answers and accountability, a same-sex partner of a woman who died in the Twin Towers who battled for recognition as a same-sex partner survivor and the family of a woman who died from respiratory disease caused by the toxic dust created by the collapse of the towers.
Out of the Ashes: 9/11 explores key legal and societal issues, such as: Was giving the claimants money a misguided failure or a lifeline to survival? Did the Fund undermine our legal system or did it offer 9/11 families justice by avoiding lawsuits? And if the Victim Compensation Fund was the right thing to do, do those affected by other tragedies, such as Hurricane Katrina, the Oklahoma City bombing and other disasters also deserve compensation? If so, is this Fund, with its methods for calculating the value of a human life, an appropriate model?
Featured interviews include Kenneth Feinberg, the 9/11 Fund Special Master, who is now the "Claim Czar" for the $20 billion BP Gulf oil spill escrow fund. Mr. Feinberg speaks candidly about the difficulty in persuading victims to give up their right to sue, the problems created by ambiguity in the law that established the Fund and how the heart-wrenching stories affected him as he struggled to essentially put a price tag on a life, over and over again.
Admission to the February 23 January 12 screening is $5 and includes beer and popcorn; proceeds will help underwrite NYCLA's pro bono programs, which assist hundreds of New Yorkers each year. For reservations, send a $5 check, made payable to NYCLA, to NYCLA - Film Festival, 14 Vesey Street, New York, NY 10007.
The New York County Lawyers' Association ( www.nycla.org ) was founded in 1908 as the first major bar association in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion or gender. Since its inception, it has pioneered some of the most far-reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence and has continuously played an active role in legal developments and public policy.
Updated: January 10, 2011 -- to reflect new screening date