Judge orders NYC to release Sept. 11 records

By The Associated Press

02.06.03

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NEW YORK — A judge has ordered the city to release hundreds of documents and audio tapes that recorded the responses of emergency services members after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

State Supreme Court Justice Richard Braun, ruling on a petition by The New York Times and one of its reporters said the city had not provided sufficient reasons why most of the records should be kept secret.

Lawyers for the city did not return calls seeking comment on the ruling, which was made public yesterday. A lawyer for the Times said the city is expected to appeal the ruling.

Braun ruled the petitioners may inspect and obtain copies of the 911 tapes and other communications between firefighters and dispatchers and factual “oral histories.”

But the judge said the city could shield opinions of firefighters and other emergency services workers who were interviewed and could keep secret “intra-agency materials,” which might be used for policy-making purposes.

The city argued that some fire operators and dispatchers “expressed disbelief, shock and terror” at what was transpiring at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. The judge granted that the situation was extraordinarily difficult but said they were public employees and therefore “not entitled to a privacy exemption.”

The city also argued for a law enforcement exception on the grounds that many of the records were collected to help federal prosecutors in the case against accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui.

The judge responded that all the records that were being sought had already been turned over to Moussaoui’s lawyers and the city had not shown that there would be any harm done by disclosing the records.

The judge did continue to shield the 911 calls of private citizens, saying that “for many it was the last word of their lives.”

“Their calls for help in extremis should be protected as private utterances for the sake of both the victims who died and their surviving family members and others who cared about them,” he said.

The judge said the 911 calls “made by the husbands and sons of the nine families” that filed friend-of-the-court briefs should be disclosed so that they will have the opportunity to hear their loved ones. He noted that they had waived privacy rights.

New York Times lawyer David McCraw said, “We’re very pleased that the judge ordered the release of as many of the documents as he did. We think the documents will help the public better understand how rescue operations were conducted Sept. 11.”

McCraw said the reporter, Jim Dwyer, had requested some of the records nearly a year ago.

McCraw said city lawyers had already indicated they would appeal if the judge ruled against them. This would normally trigger a stay that would prevent the Times from getting the materials until the appeals were exhausted.

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NYC: Sept. 11 records shouldn't be released
Responding to New York Times lawsuit, city cites victims' privacy, prosecution of Zacarias Moussaoui as reasons to keep some info secret.  07.23.02