Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Marking the Centennial of the SS Eastland Tragedy-- Part 3: A Mock Trial

Earlier this year, a University of Illinois at Chicago graduate student unearthed film footage of the ship sinking inthe Netherlands showing rescue workers walking on the side of the ship.

Soon after that, a Northern Illinois University student located another clip that shows people being pulled from the water.

These two events brought a lot of name recognition to the disaster.

In June the organization is hosting a criminal trial in regards to it.  There was to be one after the incident as prosecutors indicted the ship's captain and four company officials on manslaughter and criminal carelessness charges.  But a U.S. District Court judge in Michigan refused to extradite the men to Illinois.

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne M. Burke will preside over the mock trial using modern legal statutes.  Audience members will decide on a verdict.


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