Summary

Once all of Attica’s criminal cases were dismissed by Governor Carey, the doors opened for the highly anticipated civil trials against the state, most notably Inmates of Attica v. Rockefeller. The Attica Brothers sought $100 million in damages for violating the prisoners’ rights by using excessive force and unrestricted firepower “calculated to cause unnecessary and inexcusable death, serious injury, terror, and suffering” (460). Judge John T. Elfvin presided over the case, and one of his first pretrial questions was who was to defend the inmates. While the Attica Brothers Defense League had a rough plan in place, years of effort focused solely on the criminal trials let their preparations for civil trials fall by the wayside. After persuading from colleagues and former inmates Akil Al-Jundi and Frank “Big Black” Smith, former ABDL out of New York City, Elizabeth Fink agreed to take on...