Judge: Port Authority Negligent in 1993 WTC Bombing
NEW YORK — A jury ruled Wednesday that the Port Authority was negligent in the bombing of the World Trade Center (search) in 1993 — a long-awaited legal victory for victims of an attack that killed six people and wounded 1,000.
The six-person jury ruled that the Port Authority (search), the agency that owned the World Trade Center, was negligent by not properly maintaining the parking garage, where terrorists detonated more than a half-ton of explosives in a Ryder van. It said the negligence was a “substantial factor” in the allowing the bombing to occur.
Nanny State | Mr. Bingley | 
October 26, 2005 7:37 pm
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UNBEFUCKINGLIEVABLE.
Well, we can’t blame the scumbags who actually set off the bombs, can we?
‘cos, you know, they’re poor islamomurderers who ain’t got no money.
The tower didn’t collapse despite having large chunks of load-bearing columns blown to kablooey by a half-ton of homemade semtex. That’s poorly-maintained?
“The Port Authority did not fulfill its responsibility, its duty to keep them (the victims) safe.”
No one has a duty to absolutely ensure the safety of anyone else. People have a duty to exercise reasonable care, that’s all. The idea that the Port Authority didn’t do so is completely ridiculous. Too many jurors seem to believe that handing out civil judgments like candy “can’t hurt anyone.” Well, this will be paid out by the Port Authority’s insurers, which will cause its premiums to rise, and lots of other peoples’ premiums for general liability insurance to rise as well.
And the Port Authority doesn’t get the money to pay those premiums from thin air, either: it has to pass them along to someone, somehow. As an agency created by an interstate compact between New York and New Jersey, it will expect both those states’ highway/transportation departments to bail it out, likely resulting in increased taxes and/or borrowing by two states that are already probably the most overtaxed and debt-ridden in the country; those states, in turn, will expect Uncle Sam (i.e., the taxpayers in the rest of the country) to pick as much of that tab as possible. The Port Authority will also likely respond by raising tolls on its bridges, tunnels, etc.
Deep pockets, folks. It’s all about deep pockets.
/cynical mode