dojP000609.xml

dojP000609.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2002-03-12

Kenneth L. Zwick, Director
Office of Management Programs
U.S. Department of Justice
Main Building, Room 3140
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530
On September 11, 2001, our government failed to protect the safety of
American citizens and subsequently attempted to somewhat compensate terror
victims and their families by establishing the Victim's Compensation Fund.
The following comments reflect our dissatisfaction with the Fund as it
stands in January, 2002 and the hope that our thoughts would be incorporated
into the final proposal.
a. Including pensions of the deceased victims as "collateral sources"
against the settlement
offered would leave most civil servants's families
with little or no wrongful death
compensation. Civil servants are typically
on lower wage scales than those in private
industry, but take pride in fulfilling vital services
to their communities. As part of their
overall compensation packages, they work for their
pensions during their active duty so
that they can rest assured that they and / or their
families will be adequately provided for
when their active duty ends. As families /
friends of civil servants we view the inclusion
of pension benefits as collateral sources as clear
discrimination against blue-collar
workers.
b. Including life insurance policies as "collateral sources" discriminates
against those who
thoughtfully and responsibly provided for their
families.
c. Valuing the lives of our loved ones on a demographic chart is an
insult to the dead.
All human lives are precious and none are worth
more than others, no matter how
long the deceased lived or what his / her arbitrarily
determined "earnings potential"
was.
d. Capping emotional pain and suffering at $250,000 is ridiculously
low particularly in
comparison to court-determined awards in similar
cases.


We are not seeking funds to replace the lives of our loved ones. We
instead wish the federal government and the airlines to admit their careless
roles in the wrongful death of Americans. We note that our U.S. Constitution
has been violated in numerous ways, most importantly by the fact that our
Congress passed a law reducing the airlines' liabilities after (ex post
facto) the events of September 11, 2001, thus limiting our potential to
gain suitable settlements in traditional court proceedings. Further, we
are discouraged to know that an unelected and unaccountable official will
determine our compensation. We note that Mr. Feinberg has an unsuitable
historical record in similar proceedings such as "Agent Orange" cases in
which he neglected to fairly compensate Vietnam War veterans.
In this horrible time of grief and despair, our government has further
victimized our families by infringing upon our civil rights. The government
and media point to charity to compensate our families, yet fail to realize
that such "awards" are often unequitable, poorly administered, and were
not intended to take the place of negligent or punitive damages. We understand
the long, uphill battle involved in changing a law and do not shy away
from it. However, such proceedings would cause additional and prolonged
pain to our traumatized families. At this time, we simply request that
the Special Master take into account our above comments a-d.
Sincerely,
Individual Comment
Seaford, NY

2002-03-12