As one ex-Bushie admits his guilt today, another is getting set to defend herself from prosecution over September 11th. Christine Whitmann headed the EPA when those two planes took out the World Trade Center towers. She was influential in getting people to come back to Lower Manhattan while the air was still filled with a toxic stew of chemicals that have killed or injured an unknown amount of people either working or living in the area. Obviously, some people are mad at her for her role in opening up Lower Manhattan...but only a judge can decide if she can be sued for her crimes.
From WNYC:
NEW YORK, NY December 10, 2007 —Today, a federal appeals court will hear arguments on whether the federal government and former Environmental Protection Agency head Christine Todd Whitman can be sued for statements about conditions after 9/11. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.
A group of 8 lower Manhattan residents, office workers and students are suing Whitman and the EPA over what they allege was misleading encouragement to reoccupy the area in the weeks following 9/11. Government attorneys say Whitman cannot be held liable and filed a motion to dismiss.
A lower court judge rejected that argument last year. In saying the case should go forward, Judge Deborah Batts said Whitman’s actions had been “conscience-shocking." A different federal judge in a similar-but-unrelated lawsuit ruled otherwise and granted Whitman immunity. Those plaintiffs, mainly Ground Zero workers, are also in the process of appealing.
Conscience-shocking doesn't even begin to describe her actions. Giving the all clear when she knew the air was not safe to breathe should be considered a crime against humanity, or at least New Yorkers. It is like telling someone to walk into a gas chamber so they can smell some roses. Clearly, Whitman should be able to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law...those victims deserve justice.
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