New York State Archives, AG, and State Dept. of Ed. Launch Digital Collection of Selected Attica Prison Uprising Documents

From the New York State Attorney General’s Office:

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, Thomas J. Ruller, Director of the New York State Archives and State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia today announced the creation of a new public website hosting a digital collection of documents relating to investigations and litigation arising from the 1971 Attica prison uprising and its aftermath. These records have previously been stored at the Office of the New York State Attorney General.
September 9^th through the 13^th marks the 45^th anniversary of the Attica uprising. The event began when inmates took several guards hostage and took control of parts of the prison. One correction officer was killed. Prisoner demands included permitting prisoners additional religious freedoms, access to uncensored newspapers and magazines, the end of administrative resentencing of prisoners, a modernized inmate educational system, better food, basic medical care, less cell time, less crowding of cells and more recreation time.
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The first installment of documents to be made available on the website are from the Al Jundi v. Rockefeller lawsuit, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, including defendants Russell Oswald, John Monahan, Vincent Mancusi and Karl Pfeil. The Al Jundi case involved inmates and families of inmates killed in the prison retaking who sued the State of New York for civil rights violations by law enforcement officers during and after the retaking of Attica. The federal law suit alleged that prisoners were beaten and tortured during the retaking. After over 25 years in the courts, in 2000, the State of New York agreed to pay $8 million ($12 million minus legal fees) to settle the case.
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Additional records will be added to the web state as they are collected, reviewed, scanned and indexed.
The Attorney General’s staff that helped develop the website were Chief of Law Library Services Patricia L. Partello; Associate Law Librarian Patrick Weklar; IT Specialists Dan Walsh, Cory Nugent and Matt Toomey, Director of Administrative Services Jennifer Gonroff and Deputy Counsel John Amodeo, led by Marty Mack.

Direct to The Attica Uprising and Aftermath: Selected Documents from the Office of the Attorney General
Additional Background, More Info in Complete News Release

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