Hurricanes Make Strange Bedfellows
As was widely reported in yesterday’s coverage of Hurricane Gustav, quick thinking and brute manpower relieved the pressure on a private levee in Plaquemines Parish. The levee protected a subdivision of a couple of hundred homes.
Nearly 400 people participated in saving the levee. Their ranks included residents, first responders, the Army Corps of Engineers… and an unconfirmed number of prison inmates who were pressed into service.
Most of the prisoners from New Orleans and surrounding areas were evacuated well ahead of Gustav’s landfall. In Orleans Parish, about 300 municipal prisoners were simply delivered out of bondage. Only violent municipal offenders were kept in custody and moved with the 2500 inmates held on more serious charges.
Yet there were still enough prisoners on hand to help out when the Plaquemines Parish levee weakened.
We spoke with Pam Laborde, a spokeswomen for the Louisiana Department of Corrections. She could not tell us which parish’s prisoners were involved in the levee saving efforts. However she was not surprised that there was extra muscle on hand.
It’s not unusual in those types of emergencies to hold a few people on a work crew back so that they are able to help perform certain functions keeping the city government working. Whether they run the kitchen or as a work crew for cleaning the roads or that type of thing.
It’s one thing to scrub a latrine, but prisoners who helped to save a levee that protected homes — and potentially saved lives — should merit a “get out of jail free” card.
Laborde did not know the specifics involving efforts of these particular inmates (or their crimes), but she said that generally no such special consideration is given for state prisoners who stay behind and in harm’s way. She did say that if they were municipal prisoners, any time off would be given at the discretion of the individual Sheriffs’ departments.
Not surprisingly, Plaquemines Parish Sheriff “Jiff” Hingle could not be reached for comment.
Lawlessness can be a common occurrence during natural disasters, but apparently not all of it is bad.
Concerns about New Orleans-area levee ease [CNN]
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Comments
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ATL = Poor man's CNN
(where is the funny?)
Elie Elie Elie...what is this garbage? You waste all of our time with a post like this? You are grabbing at straws buddy! Some of your posts have been quite good - but this falls far short. Please take a time out and think about what you can offer to ATL readers.
No where in this rambling incoherent posts where you anywhere close to being interesting and readible. We are all now dumber for having read this post. I award you no points and may god have mercy on your soul.
This was crap.
You don't explain what the prisoners did, exactly. Without that, it's hard to seriously entertain your statement that they "merit a 'get out of jail free' card."
Your last sentence must be from another post, because it doesn't sum this one up. They weren't lawless during the emergency, they were prisoners.
Nice work taking an interesting story and making it boring.
"It's one thing to scrub a latrine, but prisoners who helped to save a levee that protected homes -- and potentially saved lives -- should merit a "get out of jail free" card"
Yeah, since I'm sure they did this out the goodness of their hearts and not because they were forced to or feared for their life.
Whatever, this post was fine, what's with the incessant whining on these comment boards?
"Lawlessness can be a common occurrence during natural disasters, but apparently not all of it is bad."
"Lawlessness" cannot be properly described as an "occurrence." You could have just said "lawlessness can be common."
Also, bad comma use in that sentence: should have had commas around "apparently," not before "but."
What is this crap? How did anyone who writes this poorly get into a T20 school?
Even though he writes like shit he got in cause he ain't a white guy (and probably gay).
11 sadly yes. His bio says he is 30. He sure sounds like he has no actual legal experience.
You admit not knowing the specifics of these particular inmates or their crimes, but believe an afternoon of handing sandbags up the line merits a full pardon?
And how is this is related to the legal profession?
for
shame
Elie
for
shame
Elie sucks. This story isn't related to the legal profession in any way. This site isn't supposed to be a general news site. This writing is horrible, too.
Lat, you have got to find someone else for this job. This guy is no good and is going to drive away readers. I've already stopped reading as much, and I don't see any reason to reverse that trend.
"It's one thing to scrub a latrine, but prisoners who helped to save a levee that protected homes -- and potentially saved lives -- should merit a 'get out of jail free' card."
Wow... just wow. I just totally screwed up my OCI interview and probably blew my chances for ever even opening the doors to this firm's office, and I didn't say anything remotely that stupid.
Lat, make the madness stop. This site is TTT with Ellie at the reins.
New Orleans to slave labor.
Bring back Billie Merck! We want our shitty posts about unfunny criminals to be written by someone who represents them.
the 13th amendment did not abolish slavery; read it.
Rape a woman + fix a levee = get out of jail free? Gimme a break. Now if we beat them unconscious and used their bodies to patch any holes, then I might be more sympathetic.