johnnymk
02-21-2002, 06:35 AM
Many families in my area were affected by the 911 tragedy. This is a clip from my local newspaper:
Terror suit: 'Right thing to do'
Seven Bucks County women who filed a class action lawsuit explain why the Sept. 11 terrorists' assets should be seized.
"We feel empowered," Russa Steiner said a day after she and six other Bucks County women filed a class action lawsuit against the terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.
She and the other women spoke in their attorneys' office in Doylestown Borough last night.
The 10-count federal suit seeks damages in excess of $101 billion from dozens of alleged terrorists and businesses who aided them. Osama bin Laden is at the top of the list.
The plaintiffs include Fiona Havlish, Grace Godshalk, Tara Bane and Ellen Saracini of Lower Makefield; and Clara Chirchirillo of Middletown. The other two are Theresann Lostrangio and Steiner.
"We don't want them to hurt any other families," Bane said.
Havlish, at the suggestion of her family attorney, spoke with attorneys at Mellon, Webster and Shelly in November about whether it was possible to try and seize the terrorists' assets in an effort to put them out of business.
"We don't want them to hurt any other families," Tara Bane said.
Tom Mellon said it took his firm weeks of researching federal and international law to see if it can be done. When he told Havlish it was doable, the other women quickly joined the effort.
"It felt like the right thing to do right from the beginning," Chirchirillo said.
The women spoke as they ate a quick dinner of sandwiches and cookies in between radio and television interviews.
They started about 8 o'clock yesterday morning doing an interview on MSNBC. They wrapped up the long day talking with Greta van Sustern on the Fox News Channel at 10 last night.
In between, their attorneys came in to talk about more media requests. They checked their schedule books to see who can do interviews over the weekend with CNN and WPVI-TV, 6ABC in Philadelphia, and then when they would be available to meet as a group again to talk with a British journalist.
"It felt like the right thing to do right from the beginning," Clara Chirchirillo of Middletown said.
The women said they want people all over the world to know they are trying to keep the terrorists from ever striking again.
Mellon's firm was one of four in Pennsylvania that worked to win a multi-billion dollar settlement against the tobacco industry in 1997. He said the firm is taking on this "remarkable, difficult task" with the same conviction to help the Sept. 11 families.
"I can't stress enough how much respect I have for the women, their character and their courage," Mellon said.
Godshalk, whose son Bill was killed in the World Trade Center attacks, said her first born would have supported her joining the lawsuit.
"His life was taken so needlessly, he would have said 'give them hell,'" Godshalk said.
Terror suit: 'Right thing to do'
Seven Bucks County women who filed a class action lawsuit explain why the Sept. 11 terrorists' assets should be seized.
"We feel empowered," Russa Steiner said a day after she and six other Bucks County women filed a class action lawsuit against the terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.
She and the other women spoke in their attorneys' office in Doylestown Borough last night.
The 10-count federal suit seeks damages in excess of $101 billion from dozens of alleged terrorists and businesses who aided them. Osama bin Laden is at the top of the list.
The plaintiffs include Fiona Havlish, Grace Godshalk, Tara Bane and Ellen Saracini of Lower Makefield; and Clara Chirchirillo of Middletown. The other two are Theresann Lostrangio and Steiner.
"We don't want them to hurt any other families," Bane said.
Havlish, at the suggestion of her family attorney, spoke with attorneys at Mellon, Webster and Shelly in November about whether it was possible to try and seize the terrorists' assets in an effort to put them out of business.
"We don't want them to hurt any other families," Tara Bane said.
Tom Mellon said it took his firm weeks of researching federal and international law to see if it can be done. When he told Havlish it was doable, the other women quickly joined the effort.
"It felt like the right thing to do right from the beginning," Chirchirillo said.
The women spoke as they ate a quick dinner of sandwiches and cookies in between radio and television interviews.
They started about 8 o'clock yesterday morning doing an interview on MSNBC. They wrapped up the long day talking with Greta van Sustern on the Fox News Channel at 10 last night.
In between, their attorneys came in to talk about more media requests. They checked their schedule books to see who can do interviews over the weekend with CNN and WPVI-TV, 6ABC in Philadelphia, and then when they would be available to meet as a group again to talk with a British journalist.
"It felt like the right thing to do right from the beginning," Clara Chirchirillo of Middletown said.
The women said they want people all over the world to know they are trying to keep the terrorists from ever striking again.
Mellon's firm was one of four in Pennsylvania that worked to win a multi-billion dollar settlement against the tobacco industry in 1997. He said the firm is taking on this "remarkable, difficult task" with the same conviction to help the Sept. 11 families.
"I can't stress enough how much respect I have for the women, their character and their courage," Mellon said.
Godshalk, whose son Bill was killed in the World Trade Center attacks, said her first born would have supported her joining the lawsuit.
"His life was taken so needlessly, he would have said 'give them hell,'" Godshalk said.