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{{short description|American lawyer}}
'''Elizabeth Fink''' (c. 1945 &ndash; September 22, 2015) was an American civil rights and criminal defense [[Attorneys in the United States|attorney]]. She is most prominently associated with lawsuits concerning the [[Attica Prison riots]]. A class action suit she filed in 1974, against prison guards for torture and abuse during the riot, was settled in 2000, awarding $12 million to inmates.<ref>[http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2011/09/attica-prison-uprising A bloody day in New York] [[The Economist]], September 23, 2011</ref>
'''Elizabeth Marsha Fink''' (June 7, 1945 &ndash; September 22, 2015) was an American [[civil rights]] and criminal defense [[Attorneys in the United States|attorney]]. She is most prominently associated with lawsuits concerning the [[Attica Prison riots]]. A class action suit she filed in 1974, against prison guards for torture and abuse during the riot, was settled in 2000, awarding $12 million to inmates.<ref>[https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2011/09/attica-prison-uprising A bloody day in New York] ''[[The Economist]]'', September 23, 2011</ref>


== Education ==
== Education ==
Fink was born in Brooklyn to Bernard Fink, a lawyer, and Sylvia Caplan Fink, an anti-nuclear weapon activist and an elder rights activist for the [[Gray Panthers]]. She was named after [[Elizabeth Gurley Flynn]], one of the founders of the [[American Civil Liberties Union]]. Her older brother, [[Larry Fink (photographer)|Larry Fink]], is a photographer.<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|last1=Roberts|first1=Sam|title=Elizabeth M. Fink, a Lawyer for Attica Inmates and Radicals, Dies at 70|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/25/nyregion/elizabeth-m-fink-a-lawyer-for-attica-inmates-and-radicals-dies-at-70.html|accessdate=June 17, 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 24, 2015}}</ref> She graduated from [[Reed College]] in 1967 and [[Brooklyn Law School]] in 1973.<ref>[http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/autumn2007/columns/alumni_profiles/still_fighting.html Still Fighting]</ref>
Fink graduated from [[Reed College]] in 1967.<ref>[http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/autumn2007/columns/alumni_profiles/still_fighting.html Still Fighting]</ref>


== Legal work ==
== Legal work ==
Fink is founder and senior partner at the Law Office of Elizabeth M. Fink, a [[civil rights]], [[prisoner rights]] and criminal defense firm in Brooklyn, New York.<ref>[http://fkolaw.com/ Law Office of Elizabeth M. Fink]</ref> The Attica lawsuit consumed much of her time until 2000, when prisoners won a $12 million judgment from the state of New York but received neither an apology nor admission of responsibility from the state.<ref>[http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2011/09/attica-prison-uprising A bloody day in New York], ''[[The Economist]]'', September 23, 2011</ref>
Fink was a founder and senior partner at the Law Office of Elizabeth M. Fink, a civil rights, [[Prisoner rights in the United States|prisoner rights]] and criminal defense firm in Brooklyn, New York.<ref>[http://fkolaw.com/ Law Office of Elizabeth M. Fink]</ref> The Attica lawsuit consumed much of her time until 2000, when prisoners won a $12 million judgment from the state of New York but received neither an apology nor admission of responsibility from the state.<ref>[https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2011/09/attica-prison-uprising A bloody day in New York], ''The Economist'', September 23, 2011</ref>


Fink has also represented other prisoners and political radicals. In 1989, she and others secured acquittals for members of [[United Freedom Front|the Ohio 7]], political radicals who were charged under a federal seditious conspiracy statute.<ref>[http://fkolaw.com/?page_id=2 Law Office of Elizabeth M. Fink: Attorneys]</ref>
Fink has also represented other prisoners and political radicals. In 1989, she and others secured acquittals for members of [[United Freedom Front|the Ohio 7]], political radicals who were charged under a federal seditious conspiracy statute.<ref>[http://fkolaw.com/?page_id=2 Law Office of Elizabeth M. Fink: Attorneys]</ref>
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Along with attorneys [[Sarah Kunstler]] (Kunstler's father, [[William Kunstler]], had long been a mentor of Fink) and Jesse Berman, Fink represented [[Osama Awadallah]], a [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] college student studying in the United States, who was arrested as a [[material witness]] in the days following the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] and prosecuted for alleged [[perjury]] before the [[grand jury]] investigating the terrorist attacks. Awadallah was acquitted in November 2006.
Along with attorneys [[Sarah Kunstler]] (Kunstler's father, [[William Kunstler]], had long been a mentor of Fink) and Jesse Berman, Fink represented [[Osama Awadallah]], a [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] college student studying in the United States, who was arrested as a [[material witness]] in the days following the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] and prosecuted for alleged [[perjury]] before the [[grand jury]] investigating the terrorist attacks. Awadallah was acquitted in November 2006.


Also in 2006, Fink represented [[Lynne Stewart]] during sentencing after Stewart's conviction for violating special communication measures involving client [[Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman]].<ref>[http://ccrjustice.org/sentencing-of-lynne-stewart-michael-steven-smith The Sentencing of Lynne Stewart]</ref> Fink secured a sentence of 28 months,<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/16/nyregion/16cnd-stewart.html Lawyer Gets Prison Term in Terrorism Case] [[The New York Times]], October 16, 2006</ref> but that was later increased to ten years.<ref>[http://ccrjustice.org/sentencing-of-lynne-stewart-michael-steven-smith The Sentencing of Lynne Stewart]</ref>
Also in 2006, Fink represented [[Lynne Stewart]] during sentencing after Stewart's conviction for violating special communication measures involving client [[Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman]].<ref name="The Sentencing of Lynne Stewart">[http://ccrjustice.org/sentencing-of-lynne-stewart-michael-steven-smith The Sentencing of Lynne Stewart]</ref> Fink secured a sentence of 28 months,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/16/nyregion/16cnd-stewart.html Lawyer Gets Prison Term in Terrorism Case] ''The New York Times'', October 16, 2006</ref> but that was later increased to ten years.<ref name="The Sentencing of Lynne Stewart"/>


Fink represented [[Jeremy Hammond]], who was convicted in 2013 for hacking the private intelligence firm [[Stratfor]] and releasing its documents through the whistle-blowing website [[Wikileaks]].
Fink represented [[Jeremy Hammond]], who was convicted in 2013 for the [[Stratfor email leak]].


Fink was a member of a team of attorneys who represented Ahmed Ferhani, who was accused of [[2011 Manhattan terrorism plot|plotting to blow up synagogues and churches]] in [[Manhattan, New York]]. Fink argued that Ferhani had been entrapped by law enforcement authorities,<ref>[http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/lawyers-for-man-accused-in-terrorism-plot-make-case-for-dismissal/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 Lawyers for Man Accused in Terrorism Plot Make Case for Dismissal] [[New York Times]], March 13, 2012</ref> but Ferhani in 2012 pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy and weapons possession charges.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/nyregion/ahmed-ferhani-pleads-guilty-in-plot-to-blow-up-synagogue.html Queens Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Blow Up Manhattan Synagogue][[New York Times]], December 4, 2012</ref>
Fink was a member of a team of attorneys who represented Ahmed Ferhani, who was accused of [[2011 Manhattan terrorism plot|plotting to blow up synagogues and churches]] in [[Manhattan, New York]]. Fink argued that Ferhani had been entrapped by law enforcement authorities,<ref>[http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/lawyers-for-man-accused-in-terrorism-plot-make-case-for-dismissal/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 Lawyers for Man Accused in Terrorism Plot Make Case for Dismissal] ''The New York Times'', March 13, 2012</ref> but Ferhani in 2012 pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy and weapons possession charges.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/nyregion/ahmed-ferhani-pleads-guilty-in-plot-to-blow-up-synagogue.html Queens Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Blow Up Manhattan Synagogue], ''The New York Times'', December 4, 2012</ref>


Fink died on September 22, 2015 in New York City, at the age of 70.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/09/23/attica-lawsuit-lawyer-dies/72708390/|title=Attica lawsuit lawyer dies|last=Craig|first=Gary|newspaper=[[Democrat and Chronicle]]|date=September 23, 2015}}</ref>
Fink died of a heart attack on September 22, 2015 in New York City, at the age of 70.<ref name="nytimes" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/09/23/attica-lawsuit-lawyer-dies/72708390/|title=Attica lawsuit lawyer dies|last=Craig|first=Gary|newspaper=[[Democrat and Chronicle]]|date=September 23, 2015}}</ref>


== ''Ghosts of Attica'' ==
== ''Ghosts of Attica'' ==
Fink and her paralegal Frank Smith, an inmate leader at the time of the riots, were featured in the 2001 [[Court TV]] documentary ''Ghosts of Attica'', which tells the story of the Attica uprising and subsequent lawsuits by Attica inmates.
Fink and her paralegal Frank Smith, an inmate leader at the time of the riots, were featured in the 2001 [[Court TV]] documentary ''Ghosts of Attica'', which tells the story of the Attica uprising and subsequent lawsuits by Attica inmates. ''Ghosts'' received a 2002 [[Dupont-Columbia University Award]] for Journalistic Excellence.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.icarusfilms.com/new2001/gho.html | title=Ghosts of Attica | publisher=Icarus Films | date=August 17, 2015 | accessdate=December 28, 2016}}</ref>


== Articles and videos ==
== References ==
⚫
{{Reflist|30em}}

⚫
== External links ==
⚫
* [http://fkolaw.com Law Office of Elizabeth M. Fink]
* [http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/autumn2007/columns/alumni_profiles/still_fighting.html Still Fighting]
* [http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/autumn2007/columns/alumni_profiles/still_fighting.html Still Fighting]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBG1UkxrMG0 The Attica Prison Uprising: Forty Years Later]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBG1UkxrMG0 The Attica Prison Uprising: Forty Years Later]


{{Authority control}}
⚫
== External links ==
⚫
* [http://fkolaw.com/ Law Office of Elizabeth M. Fink]

== References ==
⚫
{{reflist|30em}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Elizabeth M.}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Elizabeth M.}}
[[Category:1940s births]]
[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:Date of birth missing]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:American civil rights lawyers]]
[[Category:American civil rights lawyers]]
[[Category:American women lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women lawyers]]
[[Category:American lawyers]]
[[Category:New York (state) lawyers]]
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[[Category:New York lawyers]]
[[Category:Reed College alumni]]
[[Category:Reed College alumni]]
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[[Category:American lawyers]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Law School alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]

Latest revision as of 16:57, 2 January 2024

Elizabeth Marsha Fink (June 7, 1945 – September 22, 2015) was an American civil rights and criminal defense attorney. She is most prominently associated with lawsuits concerning the Attica Prison riots. A class action suit she filed in 1974, against prison guards for torture and abuse during the riot, was settled in 2000, awarding $12 million to inmates.[1]

Education

[edit]

Fink was born in Brooklyn to Bernard Fink, a lawyer, and Sylvia Caplan Fink, an anti-nuclear weapon activist and an elder rights activist for the Gray Panthers. She was named after Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union. Her older brother, Larry Fink, is a photographer.[2] She graduated from Reed College in 1967 and Brooklyn Law School in 1973.[3]

[edit]

Fink was a founder and senior partner at the Law Office of Elizabeth M. Fink, a civil rights, prisoner rights and criminal defense firm in Brooklyn, New York.[4] The Attica lawsuit consumed much of her time until 2000, when prisoners won a $12 million judgment from the state of New York but received neither an apology nor admission of responsibility from the state.[5]

Fink has also represented other prisoners and political radicals. In 1989, she and others secured acquittals for members of the Ohio 7, political radicals who were charged under a federal seditious conspiracy statute.[6]

Along with attorneys Sarah Kunstler (Kunstler's father, William Kunstler, had long been a mentor of Fink) and Jesse Berman, Fink represented Osama Awadallah, a Palestinian college student studying in the United States, who was arrested as a material witness in the days following the September 11, 2001 attacks and prosecuted for alleged perjury before the grand jury investigating the terrorist attacks. Awadallah was acquitted in November 2006.

Also in 2006, Fink represented Lynne Stewart during sentencing after Stewart's conviction for violating special communication measures involving client Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman.[7] Fink secured a sentence of 28 months,[8] but that was later increased to ten years.[7]

Fink represented Jeremy Hammond, who was convicted in 2013 for the Stratfor email leak.

Fink was a member of a team of attorneys who represented Ahmed Ferhani, who was accused of plotting to blow up synagogues and churches in Manhattan, New York. Fink argued that Ferhani had been entrapped by law enforcement authorities,[9] but Ferhani in 2012 pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy and weapons possession charges.[10]

Fink died of a heart attack on September 22, 2015 in New York City, at the age of 70.[2][11]

Ghosts of Attica

[edit]

Fink and her paralegal Frank Smith, an inmate leader at the time of the riots, were featured in the 2001 Court TV documentary Ghosts of Attica, which tells the story of the Attica uprising and subsequent lawsuits by Attica inmates. Ghosts received a 2002 Dupont-Columbia University Award for Journalistic Excellence.[12]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ A bloody day in New York The Economist, September 23, 2011
  2. ^ a b Roberts, Sam (September 24, 2015). "Elizabeth M. Fink, a Lawyer for Attica Inmates and Radicals, Dies at 70". The New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  3. ^ Still Fighting
  4. ^ Law Office of Elizabeth M. Fink
  5. ^ A bloody day in New York, The Economist, September 23, 2011
  6. ^ Law Office of Elizabeth M. Fink: Attorneys
  7. ^ a b The Sentencing of Lynne Stewart
  8. ^ Lawyer Gets Prison Term in Terrorism Case The New York Times, October 16, 2006
  9. ^ Lawyers for Man Accused in Terrorism Plot Make Case for Dismissal The New York Times, March 13, 2012
  10. ^ Queens Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Blow Up Manhattan Synagogue, The New York Times, December 4, 2012
  11. ^ Craig, Gary (September 23, 2015). "Attica lawsuit lawyer dies". Democrat and Chronicle.
  12. ^ "Ghosts of Attica". Icarus Films. August 17, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
[edit]
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