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Thread: Court prevents release of most 911 calls made on 9/11

  1. #1
    frindevil Guest

    Court prevents release of most 911 calls made on 9/11

    http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/24/se...pes/index.html

    Court prevents release of most September 11 emergency calls

    Privacy concerns outweigh public interest, judges rule

    By Deborah Feyerick
    and Phil Hirschkorn
    CNN
    Thursday, March 24, 2005 Posted: 3:17 PM EST (2017 GMT)
    (CNN) -- The emergency phone calls made by people trapped inside the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, need not be released to the public, a New York court ruled Thursday.

    The New York State Court of Appeals declined to grant the wish of September 11 families who joined in a lawsuit seeking release of all tapes and transcripts of calls made from inside the Twin Towers to 9-1-1 operators.

    "We are not persuaded that such disclosure is required by the public interest," the judges said in their ruling.

    Instead, it agreed only to the release of calls from any relatives of the eight families who joined a lawsuit, originally filed by The New York Times as part of a request under the freedom of information law.

    The families sought release of the 9-1-1 calls possessed by the Fire Department of New York, along with department dispatcher calls and interviews with firefighters who participated in the September 11 rescue effort.

    The court did order the release of 511 interviews with September 11 firefighters.

    It ordered that the oral histories be disclosed except for "specifically identified portions that can be shown likely to cause serious pain or embarrassment to an interviewee."

    The fire department also will be required to release some internal communications between dispatchers and other employees -- those with "factual statements or instructions affecting the public" but none disclosing "opinions and recommendations."

    The FDNY had resisted the disclosures, citing privacy concerns.

    The appeals court disagreed with families whose attorneys argued in a hearing last month in Albany that public interest outweighed privacy protection of those who died in the attacks.

    Although 9-1-1 calls might contain previously undisclosed factual information about what was happening inside the towers, the judges wrote, "it is normal to be appalled if intimate moments in the life of one's deceased child, wife, husband, or other close relative become publicly known, and an object of idle curiosity or a source of titillation."

    Referring to the calls, they said, "Those words are likely to include expression of the terror and agony the callers felt and of their deepest feelings about what their lives and their families meant to them. The grieving family of such a caller -- or the caller, if he or she survived -- might reasonably be deeply offended at the idea that these words could be heard on television or read in The New York Times."

    No families came forward to oppose the release.

    Norm Siegel, an attorney for the eight families who sought full disclosure, said they will seek affidavits from other families authorizing the release of additional 9-1-1 calls.

    "We won a lot, but there are things we didn't get," Siegel said.

    The FDNY also sought to block the release of six unidentified tapes and transcripts selected by federal prosecutors as evidence in the prosecution of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person facing trial in the United States for the September 11 attacks.

    The court rejected the concern, saying the release of these calls would not affect the ability to seat an impartial jury.

    The 9/11 commission, which had access to the FDNY tapes, found significant flaws in the city's 9-1-1 system and recommended improvements.

  2. #2
    somebigguy Guest
    Privacy Concerns. What a joke.

  3. #3
    Se7en Guest
    I dunno. From a legal stand point, they do have a point; however from a concerned American, truly makes you wonder. What are they trying to protect from getting out?


    Interesting though.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Se7en
    I dunno. From a legal stand point, they do have a point; however from a concerned American, truly makes you wonder. What are they trying to protect from getting out?


    Interesting though.
    The only reason the families want to hear it is because it was the last thing their loved ones said, and a lot of family members want to know what it was they were going through at the time of death.

    Don't they deserve it?

    BEING the family members!!!

    Why even THINK of trying to keep those tapes from the family members now that the "Investigation" is over...
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  5. #5
    Se7en Guest
    So, if a rape/murder victim was caught on 911's recording, should they be entitled to that too? You have to be completely equal across the board; releasing a tape like that to the public (and it will get out in the public) can only hurt the families more. Same thing goes with 9/11; how can releasing the 9/11 tapes help with closure?

    Interesting debate though.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Se7en
    So, if a rape/murder victim was caught on 911's recording, should they be entitled to that too? You have to be completely equal across the board; releasing a tape like that to the public (and it will get out in the public) can only hurt the families more. Same thing goes with 9/11; how can releasing the 9/11 tapes help with closure?

    Interesting debate though.
    The answer to your question is, if they want it, ABSOLUTELY. The families are the ones asking for the tapes. Yes, they will be painful to listen to, but the family members are asking for them. That means they want to feel whatever pain they're going to go through. They feel it's "necessary". For whatever reason. I'm not being a smart ass, but who are you to question whether or not those 9/11 tapes would bring closure to the families? Unless you're a family member, you have no idea what it is they've gone through, etc...

    If they want the tapes, let them have them.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  7. #7
    somebigguy Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Se7en
    So, if a rape/murder victim was caught on 911's recording, should they be entitled to that too? You have to be completely equal across the board; releasing a tape like that to the public (and it will get out in the public) can only hurt the families more. Same thing goes with 9/11; how can releasing the 9/11 tapes help with closure?

    Interesting debate though.
    No way. No one person was attacked. A nation was attacked and everyone that wants the information should have it. A rape happens to one person and is a personal thing. The war on terror is the justification for numerous wars and every decision the gov't makes. The people need access to all information in order to make an informed decision at the polls.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by somebigguy
    No way. No one person was attacked. A nation was attacked and everyone that wants the information should have it. A rape happens to one person and is a personal thing. The war on terror is the justification for numerous wars and every decision the gov't makes. The people need access to all information in order to make an informed decision at the polls.
    If the investigation wasn't over, I would say only the family members should be allowed to listen to them, and in a secure setting.

    Now that the "investigation" is over, everyone should be allowed access to them...

    Se7en... is that right? As far as the law goes? Would the "Freedom Of Information Act" cover something like that?
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  9. #9
    Se7en Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by somebigguy
    No way. No one person was attacked. A nation was attacked and everyone that wants the information should have it. A rape happens to one person and is a personal thing. The war on terror is the justification for numerous wars and every decision the gov't makes. The people need access to all information in order to make an informed decision at the polls.
    So the 9/11 calls were from a group of people at a time? They were individuals making those calls, fearing for their lives. So, the 'War on Terror' should allow full breaches into indivdual rights, simply because we were attacked? Are you so willing to give up your rights?

    If we open the door to ignoring privacy rights due to the 'War on Terror', what is next?

  10. #10
    Se7en Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Gold9472
    If the investigation wasn't over, I would say only the family members should be allowed to listen to them, and in a secure setting.

    Now that the "investigation" is over, everyone should be allowed access to them...

    Se7en... is that right? As far as the law goes? Would the "Freedom Of Information Act" cover something like that?
    The Freedon Of Information Act does not cover things like this. The information should be allowed declassified if, 1) it is not a matter of National Security and 2) it does not infrindge on the rights of others.

    Privacy being a STRONG deciding point in the Judicial system would prevent the 'FOIA' from overruling.

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