Supreme Court Rules on 9/11 Radio Case
From CNN.com:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Families of New York firefighters killed at the World Trade Center on September 11 failed Tuesday to persuade the Supreme Court to allow them to go forward with a lawsuit against New York City and Motorola for supplying the rescuers with faulty radios.The high court let stand a decision by a lower appellate court. The lower court dismissed a lawsuit blaming the city and Motorola for supplying firefighters with handheld communications devices that prevented them from hearing evacuation orders while they were in the north tower trying to rescue people.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said the families had waived their right to sue when they accepted money from the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund.
Even though communications played a critical part of the firefighter deaths that day, the court has made the right decision here. The lawsuit may have been able to move forward if the plaintiffs had not waived their right to sue.
The communciations issue has been hit again and again since 9/11. I'm not sure what the status is across the country, but I would be willing to bet that there are still serious communication issues in our big cities. It is a difficult and complex issue that will take time to solve.
