Post-Hurricane Criminal Justice Katrina: Post-Hurricane

Post-Hurricane Criminal Justice

Katrina: Post-Hurricane Failure in New Orleans

Leadership Growth Opportunities

Katrina: Post-Hurricane Failure in New Orleans

The focus of this work is the judicial and executive administration of justice in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana next following Hurricane Katrina's destruction to the area. There must be protocols followed for the administration of justice during times such as just occurred when the levees broke and the entire town was submerged in flood water and efforts must be made on the part of city, state, and federal officials, judicial members, and law enforcement officials to place priority on communications and returning the city to business as usual and while doing so to avoid the incitation of mass arrests due to hyper-vigilance of police enforcement and other elements which bring into the question the credibility of the government administration. A review of literature, specifically news coverage reveals that failings of a variety of nature occurred in the aftermath of the hurricane as well as the occurrence of legal oversight by the administration in dealing with individuals in methods that were nothing akin to 'individual.' This works looks at the report of the 911 ad hoc committee in New York City and its recommendations (Vera Institute of Justice, Inc. Report, 2002) as well in forming a 'model' for proper and appropriate administration of criminal justice in such situations as is being presently experienced by the people of New Orleans.

Katrina: Post-Hurricane Failure in New Orleans

Chapter One

Introduction

There is no person in the United States and in fact in the world who has not heard of the destruction and devastation that the Hurricane named Katrina dealt the historically and culturally unique town of New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans is a coastal town in the southern U.S. And is known for its French Quarters, Cajun cuisine, Madi Gras, and for the Blues. The French first settled New Orleans which is predominantly the home of poor blacks. It is tragic when comprehended that this terrible event could have been avoided if only the proper precautions had been implemented. It is further tragic to note the poor handling of the emergency by the agencies that are responsible for attending to victims in these circumstances.

Statement of Opportunity

This work has the opportunity, with the advantage of hindsight to address what implementations and applications could have been utilized by the responsible agencies in better handling the crisis of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Significance of the Project

The significance of this project is of the nature that may aid and inform further efforts in such crisis situations and that may add to previous research in this area.

Background and Setting

While engineers worked to find a method of plugging the levee in New Orleans, police officers concentrated, and in fact made it their number one priority to stop victims in the city from procuring through "looting" needed items. Further was the moving of 25,000 refugees were being transported 350 miles to the Houston Astrodome due to the lack of air conditioning, failing sewage and a horrendous stench. Gas mains are bursting and the streets are filled with water, dead bodies, garbage and sewage. The price of gasoline rose above three dollars a gallon while all of this occurred in Louisiana.

External and Internal Influences

Influences of the situation are of an external and internal nature. Outside influences are those of the federal government, FEMA and other agencies on the federal level while internal influences speak of those within the city itself.

Focus of the Project

The focus of the project is the failings in a time of crisis such as experienced by New Orleans and the role in leadership, or indeed lack of it plays in committing legal oversight, neglect or hyper-vigilance on the part of law enforcement, judicial, or executive members of city administration.

Leadership Growth Opportunities

While times of such tragedy are known to have very little good culminate in the days just following the disaster, it is true that during times such as these leadership does arise which was previously unknown in answer to the crisis and therefore, it can be understood that these situations create opportunities for the growth and development of the roles of leadership.

Summary

What caused the expansion of the crisis in New Orleans? A hurricane is enough for a city to experience however, the city of New Orleans has experienced far more due to certain breakdowns and failures within the system...the government system. FEMA reportedly not only failed miserably, but systematically as they not only did not deliver much needed supplies and aid to the victims of the New Orleans hurricane Katrina, they blocked the flow of assistance, and life-saving supplies. Furthermore, there exist reports such as the one of the 70-year-old woman, now sitting in a Louisiana maximum security prison among hardened criminals. Her crime? She was arrested for looting a package of sausage. According to eye witnesses, she has removed the sausage from her cooler in the trunk of her car to prepare her 80-year-old husband a meal. However, had she stolen the sausage, which she did not, what rational judge would appropriate this sentence to the woman, indeed what could possibly justify the sentencing to prison of a hurricane victim, and at that a 70-year-old diabetic, for having attempted to survive amidst the disaster, confusion and complete breakdown of the city, state and federal system of government in Louisiana? Tragically, there are those who have paid more than prison time for being poor and black in Louisiana. Indeed many have paid the price with their very lives for they had no way to escape the approaching Category 5 hurricane. Many drowned, and it is amazing upon consideration, in the attics of their houses. Forty-five individuals that were hospitals patients at the time died in the hospitals due to what has been stated to be terrible conditions with a vile stench filling the hospital. School buses that should have and could have taken many of the tens of thousands stranded with the hurricane approaching to safety sat flooded out in parking lots. No one dreamed that this could happen in America. Indeed, the U.S. is ever-so-prepared for such things [i.e. For example: terrorists] that this should have never happened. The criminal justice system will now prepare itself to address the results of this tragic natural disaster and should bolster itself for a very long day in court.

Another aspect very much worth the mention is the fact that law enforcement officials were stated to have been not attempting to assist the victims in efforts of rescue but to have been taking guns from the victims, refusing to supply any sort of food or water provisions and placed as their number one priority the arrest of looters. It was stated in a report at the Alex Jones Prison Planet website that the New Orleans swat team showed up on shirts and caps with burning skulls and lightening bolts for the purpose of intimidating victims and forcing them to leave their homes...even those who still had homes in which to stay. (Jones, 2005)

Katrina: Post-Hurricane Failure in New Orleans

Chapter Two

Introduction

This review of literature will outline the failings of city, state and federal agencies who were responsible for responding to the aftermath of the hurricane disaster in New Orleans. It will be shown that gross negligence occurred as well as military police state tactics used against the victims, the citizens of New Orleans while they were attempting to survive what had befallen their town.

Review of Related Literature

CNN reported in their article "Rebuilding the Gulf, but at what cost?" (La Monica, 2005) that New Orleans would be on the receiving end of $62 billion in Federal aid for rebuilding efforts following the horrendous Hurricane Katrina. This addition to the national budget deficit has the potential, to either slow the economy or to revamp it. It is interesting that the President failed to state precisely how much the effort to rebuild New Orleans might actually be.

Meanwhile CNN also reports in their article "Disaster Strikes, Lawsuits Follow" (Seid, 2005) that lawsuits related to the handling of Insurance payments are a real possibility, specifically class-action suits. The article estimates a sum of $200 billion for costs in the rebuilding effort. It is important to note the report that "Standard homeowner's policies exclude flood coverage, which must be bought from the federal government's National Flood Insurance Program which is administered by the Federal Emergency Insurance Program (FEMA), a unit of the Department of Homeland Security. It won't be the first time. A class-action lawsuit was filed recently which charged that "victims of 2003's Hurricane Isabel were underpaid for their claims." (Seid, 2005) Damages are being sought in the amount of $2 billion from NFIP subcontractor Computer Sciences Corporation as well as FEMA and a variety of insurance companies and adjusters. (Insurance company defendants are Allstate, Harleysville Mutual, The Hartford, Liberty Mutual, Sate Farm, Travelers and American Security Insurance Company) The argument of the Plaintiff's attorney, Martin Freeman is that "because certain federal officials acted outside the scope of their authority, and as a result people were injured, they shouldn't be protected by sovereign immunity." The lawsuit states that the "defendants knowing paid out far less than policy holders deserved to repair flooded homes and property [Officials throughout NFIP] deliberately and fraudulently used low-balling, high pressure tactics to get people to accept pennies on the dollar of what they are entitled to. (Seid, 2005)

In an article entitled "Multiple Failures Caused Relief Crisis - The Breakdown of the Relief Operation in New Orleans was the Result of Multiple Failures by City, State and Federal Authorities" (Reynolds, 2005 BBC News) which states: There was no one cause. The failures began long before the hurricane with a gamble that a Category Four or Five would not strike New Orleans." (Reynolds, 2005 BBC News) This mistake followed with an evacuation plan that was lacking and resulted in "a relief effort hampered by lack of planning, supplies and manpower, and a breakdown in communications of the most basic sort." FEMA expressed confidence in its readiness. However, the statement of Michael Brown, was a lame warning stating only "There's still time to take action now, but you must be prepared and take shelter and other emergency precautions immediately." One wonders why he did not state that the inhabitants of the city should evacuate with the hurricane of such force approaching? According to the BBC News Report of Reynolds (2005) Louisiana Governor stated that the President had called with an appeal for a 'mandatory evacuation.' Another problem was the gamble by the government, the Army Corps of Engineer commander, and the Washington "collective mindset that New Orleans would not be hit." (Reynolds, BBC News 2005) The city's levees were last strengthened in 1969 however, enough only to withstand a Category Three hurricane. Improvements of only $500 million over the next decade are reported and after 2003 to present "The Bush administration cut funds amid charges from the Army Corps of Engineers that the money was transferred to Iraq instead."(Reynolds, BBC News, 2005)

Another subject reported by BBC News is the racial and ethnic division that has come to the forefront being exposed since the hurricane. The area most devastated by the hurricane was an area known to be in danger due to the levees in the case of a hurricane and a place home to poor black people living from paycheck to paycheck, without transportation, and therefore without a way to escape the approaching hurricane. (Shields, BBC News, 2005)

It was stated in a report at the Alex Jones Prison Planet website that the New Orleans swat team showed up on shirts and caps with burning skulls and lightening bolts for the purpose of intimidating victims and forcing them to leave their homes...even those who still had homes in which to stay. (Jones, 2005)

Astounding news has come from the Total Analysis Online website in a report entitled: "Earwitness Tells ABC Explosives Blew the Industrial Canal Levee." Stated in the comments on the site was the following:

One should think in terms of hydrodynamics when considering the catastrophic failure of a reinforced, recently upgraded levee (17th street canal). Water seeks the path of least resistance. How does water traveling parallel to the levee walls apply sufficient hydraulic or perpendicular force to compromise grade 1 concrete, given three important factors: (1) There was no storm surge applied. (2) The Hurricane had passed; and (3) This is an open air canal. Excess water would simply spill over the sides, not cause a physical breach.

While the city, state and federal government of course denies the plausibility of this, it is clear that the people of New Orleans will want this addressed along with the plethora of other things which have plagued this city during this disaster and the situations of further aggravated crisis which followed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Steinahauer & Lipton (2005) report for the New York Times that FEMA has been extremely slow in its response to the victims in New Orleans.

Finally a report from the Vera Institute of Justice, Inc. (2002) entitled "The Administration of justice Under Emergency Conditions: Lessons Following the Attack on the World Trade Center" clearly outlines the responsibilities of those in positions of leadership during incidents such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The report came from the study of ad hoc committee, appointed by New York City Mayor, John V. Lindsay. The committee found that "reported crime, arrests and prosecutions all dropped dramatically after the World Trade Center catastrophe. In fact stated is that "The attack on the World Trade Center united disparate New Yorkers in ways that are unlikely to be repeated in future emergencies faced by a local justice system. Many people felt an overwhelming need to contribute to the common good in the days following September 11."(Vera Institute of Justice, Inc. 2002) Multiple factors are involved in the event of a crisis on the criminal justice level. While New York's tragedy did not have elements typical of strain for the credibility of the government, or elements that created suspicion of the police officers, it was acknowledged by the report that these factors must be considered while assuring the fair and the effective administration of justice during times of crisis while at the same time focusing toward the reduction of tensions.

The report states that: "Emergencies test the dexterity of the justice system. Civil unrest, we know from recent history, can overwhelm the courts with masses of arrests, terrorists attacks, we know since September 11, can force courts to operate without phones, computer, police witnesses, and even buildings. Whatever the emergency the challenge is to restore the administration of justice - with individual consideration of each case - as soon as possible." (Vera Institute of Justice, Inc., 2002) The committee stated that "Our examination of the response of the courts to the events of September 11, and our review of early guides to the administration of justice during emergencies lead us to suggest that future planning exercises and drills focus on the four issues we have identified as crucial."(Vera Institute of Justice, Inc., 2002) Those four issues were named to be (1) Leadership; (2) Business as Usual (3) Communication; and (4) Police availability.