Top 10 Civil Liberties News Stories of the Week - August 11, 2006 Edition

ACLU: Prisoners at Orleans Parish Prison Left Behind During Hurricane Katrina

A satellite photo of the New Orleans Superdome, taken shortly after the impact of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. During the storm, over 10,000 New Orleans residents waited out the storm in the Superdome, which sustained considerable damage.

Image courtesy of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

This culture of neglect was evident in the days before Katrina, when the sheriff declared that the prisoners would remain "where they belong," despite the mayor's decision to declare the city's first-ever mandatory evacuation. OPP even accepted prisoners, including juveniles as young as 10, from other facilities to ride out the storm.

As floodwaters rose in the OPP buildings, power was lost, and entire buildings were plunged into darkness. Deputies left their posts wholesale, leaving behind prisoners in locked cells, some standing in sewage-tainted water up to their chests ...

Prisoners went days without food, water and ventilation, and deputies admit that they received no emergency training and were entirely unaware of any evacuation plan. Even some prison guards were left locked in at their posts to fend for themselves, unable to provide assistance to prisoners in need.

Index: Top 10 Civil Liberties News Stories of the Week - August 11, 2006 Edition

1. London Terrorism Scare Reignites Ethnic Profiling Debate
2. ACLU: Prisoners at Orleans Parish Prison Left Behind During Hurricane Katrina
3. Cybercrime Treaty May Endanger Internet Free Speech
4. Study: Black Survivors of Hurricane Katrina Subjected to Housing Discrimination
5. ACLU Challenges Reauthorized PATRIOT Act in Court
6. North Carolina Establishes Innocence Inquiry Commission
7. Report: Judges Differ Dramatically on Asylum Petitions
8. Blacklisted Pilot Exonerated
9. Original Plaintiff Seeks to Overturn Landmark Abortion Case
10. Black Jack Anti-Cohabitation Law to Be Challenged in Court