Indeterminate Future Harm in the Context of September 11

Within less than two weeks of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress acted with unparalleled alacrity to establish a compensation scheme for victims of the horrific events. One key them of the fund is the resolution of claims with dispatch, avoiding the years of delay and uncertainty that are taken to be the plight of injury victims who must seek recourse through tort. The fund establishes a cluster of limitations that are critical in determining coverage of the various categories of individuals who may have suffered latent injuries. The fund provides for intangible loss, referring explicitly to pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and all other nonpecuniary losses of any kind or nature. The fund is singular in its origins, not just because it is a response to a single event rather than an ongoing activity, but more saliently, because the principal harm generators - the terrorists and their sponsors - realistically cannot be held financially accountable for their actions on September 11.