Elizabeth Fink | Lawyer in Attica case, 70

Elizabeth Fink, 70, a New York lawyer who helped state inmates win a $12 million settlement three decades after the bloody 1971 prison riot in Attica, died of cardiac arrest Tuesday at Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, said her brother, Larry Fink.

Ms. Fink sued state authorities over the force used to retake control of Attica Correctional Facility from inmates. Troopers and guards fatally shot 29 inmates and 10 hostages, and prisoners who had rioted five days earlier and taken control of part of the prison were beaten and tortured.

"It took 27 years," she told the Associated Press last year. "It was not a lot of money."

The federal class-action lawsuit was tried in 1991 in Buffalo. An appeals court overturned the jury verdicts for the prisoners for violations of their civil rights. The settlement was reached in 2000.

Attorney Jonathan Gradess called Ms. Fink's efforts "heroic." He represents families of killed and injured hostages who got a $12 million state settlement in 2005. Both groups still seek two more things - full disclosures of what happened and apologies from the state, he said.

"In essence, what she did was bring to light something that the state wanted to bury: that there was torture inflicted on prisoners in the aftermath of the violent retaking." Gradess said.

Ms. Fink worked on other prominent civil rights cases and represented criminal defendants, including difficult cases other lawyers avoided, said former colleague Sarah Kunstler. "She believed standing between a client and the crushing weight of government power was a political act," she said. - AP