History for Chron

The Idaho Supreme Court ruled that survivors of the 91 miners killed in the 1972 fire at Sunshine Mine in Kellogg could proceed with a lawsuit against the miner union.

At the same time, the state’s high court ruled that a similar lawsuit against the state of Idaho be dismissed. Both suits alleged that the union and state failed to protect the miners from unsafe conditions.

The 91 miners were killed underground on May 2, 1972, when a fire broke out in the mine, which was the nation’s largest producer of lead and silver.

In 1976, a similar suit, seeking $660 million in damages, failed when U.S. District Court Judge Ray McNichols ruled against the survivors.

U.S. Rep. Don Edwards, (D-Calif.) asked for a federal investigation into the conditions inside the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla at the request of the ACLU.

Edwards, a former FBI agent, complied with the ACLU request after inmates claimed that guards beat convicts on two days in July.

Five guards were fired and seven guards received warning letters, but state investigators had not filed any criminal charges in connection with the incident.