RCFP: Sept. 11 records will likely remain sealed for now

A New York judge might unseal over one million pages of documents related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks but will most likely not release the documents. The documents are lawsuits from the families who lost loved ones against airlines and aviation security companies. The New York Times, victims’ families and the Reporters Committee asked U.S. District Court Judge Alkin K. Hellerstein to release the pages to the public but were denied. The documents might have new information on the security failures that led to the attacks. The airline attorneys are arguing that the release of the documents would delay the civil trial. “The wire service quoted Hellerstein as saying, ‘my goal is to move these cases to trial,’ adding that if the case does indeed go to trial ‘the history of what led to 9/11 may come out to some degree, or maybe it won't."

            I don’t think the documents should not be released because it would delay the trial. They should be released if they are going to expose the airlines and security contractors for doing a poor job. Fair justice should be made and I think releasing the documents would help other airlines and security contractors from making the same mistakes. I almost think its silly to not release the documents because it’s going to take too long to sort through them.