Blood in the Water

Elizabeth Fink was from a radical left background, and after editing a leftist newspaper, she entered the legal profession. In July 1974 she was a key figure in the ABLD, working on the Attica defense cases. By the 1980s she found herself part of “the highest-profile Attica case to date” (458), working for “Big Black” Smith.

Despite the bold words of Governor Carey in 1976 that all individuals involved in Attica cases would be pardoned, as Thompson says, “he did not in fact have the legal power to pardon anyone in advance of a possible conviction” (489). What this meant was that the surviving prisoners could still seek redress against the state for what had happened. They had been attempting this since 1971. By 1979 five state employees had been served and, after years of legal wrangling, remained in the civil suit. These were: Rockefeller, Oswald, Monahan, Mancusi, and his former deputy superintendent, Karl Pfeil. The case for the plaintiffs was spearheaded by “Big Black” Smith and, after some initial reluctance, Elizabeth Fink as their lawyer. It would, as Thompson notes, be a huge challenge taking on some of the wealthiest and most connected individuals in New York.