Grand Jury Probing Post-Katrina NOLA Police

Katrina continues to have legal consequences in the Big Easy. It's likely that SHN might not be able to provide assistance on this when we head down for our week of volunteering, however, this is yet another thing to keep in mind when people say to you that New Orleans can't be hurting anymore after all this time.

From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

For the past several months, the federal building on Poydras Street has seen a steady stream of New Orleans police officers trudge in and out, all of them testifying before grand jurors gathering evidence of possible civil rights violations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina -- allegations that center on police misbehavior.

Federal agents, meanwhile, have been studying police e-mails and documents obtained by subpoena -- as well as through a surprise search warrant executed on the New Orleans Police Department homicide office -- in an attempt to ferret out exactly what happened in the chaotic days after the storm.

Continue reading this article here.

March Madness

The NY Times has this story in today's online edition about D.J. Augustin, a Katrina evacuee who is playing basketball for the University of Texas at Austin. I'm not a March Madness fan and didn't know who he was, but the story's title, A City Left Behind, but Still Inspired, caught my eye. Think about this, Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 and since then he's only been back 4 times! It seems like he still has strong connections with New Orleans, but sadly it's no longer his home.

I'm out here in Illinois for the next 3 years or so, by choice and could return home (Massachusetts) whenever I want to, but it'd be another thing altogether not to have a home to go back to, and to have to adjust to a new one. It seems like he's not only done that, but is thriving at it. I'm impressed.

Here's a quote from the story: “D. J.’s story is one of inspiration and demonstrates the power of the human spirit,” New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said through a spokesman. “Our citizens, whether living here or elsewhere, continue to demonstrate their strength and perseverance.”

Note: the photo above is from D.J. Augustin's athlete profile on the University of Texas's Athletic Department's website.

It's News To Me!

It's a little ironic considering that I'm blogging on here and I wasn't aware of this, but as the title says it's news to me. It's not really a secret, just something I hadn't thought about and if you're like me, you might not have either. So what is it? Well...here goes:

Each week the Student Hurricane Network sends out a newsletter containing udates about SHN events, news and information about the Gulf Coast Region, and ways to get involved in the organization.

Moral of the story is you get more email (kidding), no, this is a really good way to keep on what's going on in New Orleans and the lingering effects of Katrina. I know, I know you're probably thinking more email, and weekly to boot? If you don't want to sign up for the newsletter, remember the Student Hurricane Network website is http://studenthurricanenetwork.org
It links to the blogs of other law schools and read what their experiences have been.

We'll be adding pics here soon, so watch for that.

Trivia: how many stories does Google News return about "Hurricane Katrina"?
Answer (as of today March 28, 2008): 12,858

Note: I tried signing up for the newsletter and got an error message, so it might not work for you, (but you can check still check out the other schools' blogs), hopefully the error I got isn't an ongoing issue. If you've signed up, recently leave a comment and tell me what I did wrong.

Talk to Bill Quigley tomorrow!

Bill Quigley, Loyola New Orleans law professor (and THE MAN of civil rights law in NOLA) will be answering questions about justice law in NOLA since Katrina. Go to this website to join in or to ask a question.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20319341/site/newsweek/

The Live Talk is at noon Central time.