User:Gabrielletolliver/sandbox

Edit Summary for Effects of Hurricane Katrina Page
I am in a human right history class and we were assigned to add to a wiki page regarding a "silenced" human rights injustice. I decided to focus on the treatment of Orleans Parish prisoner during the time of this hurricane. I have worked on this addition in that fall of 2018 and my work is in my sandbox which is linked. gabrielletolliver/sandbox

Contributions
I did not reject any change suggestions.

New Section under background (History of New Orleans’ Law Enforcement Offices)
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans’ law enforcement was in disarray. It was inundated with corruption from higher up officials and had underpaid officers manning the streets. This enforcement lacked the trust of its citizens and failed to keep police brutality rates low. The city’s lack of organization caused for the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) and its prison, Orleans Parish Prison (OPP), to have insufficient funding for proper equipment and emergency planning. Along with the law enforcement, the city’s district attorney’s office had very little funding as well. Each prosecutor was only paid $30,000 starting off and the public defenders only $29,000. These public defenders’ income came from the traffic tickets and court fees of the city residents. These earnings were often times very inconsistent, in turn causing these low wages. New Orleans only had 30 public defenders to handle all of its cases annually. In the days leading up to the storm, Orleans Parish Prison’s lack of preparation caused the overlooking of evacuation plans. This absence of preparation later led to the suffering of its prisoners during one of America’s most damaging hurricanes.

In Aftermath Section (Orleans Parish Prison)
During Hurricane Katrina, Orleans Parish Prison housed many different inmates. There were inmates who were serving weekend time due to public intoxication all the way to convicted murderers. There were many inmates who just began their sentences when Katrina hit the city. After the hurricane made landfall, most of the city’s power was affected. This caused for Orleans Parish Prison to be without power. During this outage, many of the prisoners were locked in their cells due to the doors solely opening electronically. After being left in the dark due to the wind damage, the breaking of levees throughout the city flooded New Orleans and affected the prison. These prisoners were left by guards and deputies alike in the prison with chest high water and no food or water. Due to the lack of power, the inmates took it upon themselves to start fires in the facility despite lack of ventilation. Though most left, there were some prison guards who stayed in the city during the storm. These guards assaulted the prisoners during this time. Most prisoners were shot, beaten, and maced. The prisoners feared for their lives during these encounters with the guards. The inmates endured these living conditions for three to five days before being relocated by officials. Once official teams came in to rescue the prisoners, they were all moved to I-10, the major interstate in New Orleans. For those inmates who were not able to be easily rescued they were left in the prison. While located on I-10, the inmates were given water and food, though for some this was given too late. There were many inmates who passed out due to dehydration. The police brutality also remained high while prisoners were on the interstate. Guards would shoot at the prisoners for any outburst and continue to beat them similar to conditions in Orleans Parish Prison. While the inmates continued to endure these conditions, there were a total of six public defenders who were managing the cases of all of New Orleans prisoners. Many of the incarcerated served longer sentences due to the public defender’s lack of manpower. The prisoners were later sent off to different prisons around the state of Louisiana while the city was still underwater. After the flood waters receded, many of the inmates of Orleans Parish Prison served longer sentences due to the lack of government in New Orleans. The Criminal Justice System was out of order in the city for months and did not release the its first prisoner on bond until October 2006.

= Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans = Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

Background
New Orleans was settled on a natural high ground along the Mississippi River. Later developments that eventually extended to nearby Lake Pontchartrain were built on fill to bring them above the average lake level. Navigable commercial waterways extended from the lake into the interior of the city to promote waterborne commerce. After the construction of the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal in 1940, the state closed these waterways causing the town's water table to lower drastically.

In 1965, heavy flooding caused by Hurricane Betsy brought concerns regarding flooding from hurricanes to the forefront. That year Congress passed the Flood Control Act of 1965 which, among other issues, gave authority for design and construction of the flood protection in the New Orleans metropolitan area to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, subject to cost sharing principles, some of which were waived by later legislation. The local municipalities were charged with maintenance once the projects were completed. After 1965, the corps built a levee system around a much larger geographic footprint that included previous marshland and swamp. Many new subdivisions were developed to cater to those who preferred a more suburban lifestyle but were open to remaining within the city limits of New Orleans. Historians question why the area farthest east was developed, since it was viable wetlands and because ringing this region with levees did nothing significant toward protecting the city. What expansion accomplished was to increase the amount of land that could be developed, and it was a reason for the Army Corps to expand the size of its project. In addition the structures caused subsidence of up to 8 feet (2.4 m) in some areas due to the consolidation of the underlying organic soils.

A 1999–2001 study Richard Campanella, Tulane School of Architecture, using LIDAR technology found that 51% of the terrestrial surface of the contiguous urbanized portions of Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard parishes lie at or above sea level, with the highest neighborhoods at 10–12 feet (3.0–3.7 m) above mean sea level. Forty nine percent lies below sea level, in places to equivalent depths.

When authorized, the flood control design and construction were projected to take 13 years to complete. When Katrina made landfall in 2005, the project was between 60–90% complete with a projected date of completion estimated for 2015, nearly 50 years after authorization. Hurricane Georges in September 1998 galvanized some scientists, engineers and politicians into collective planning, Scientific American declared that "New Orleans is a disaster waiting to happen" in October 2001. However, even the most insistent calls from officials to evacuate ahead of Katrina did not warn that the levees could breach.

On August 29th, 2005, flood walls and levees catastrophically failed throughout the metro area. Many collapsed well below design thresholds (17th Street and London Canals). Others collapsed after a brief period of overtopping (Industrial Canal) caused “scouring” or erosion of the earthen levee walls. In eastern New Orleans, levees along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway failed in several places because they were built with sand and erodible materials instead of clay, an obvious construction flaw.

History of Orleans Parish Prison (added section)
I. Pre Katrina Orleans Parish Prison

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- not enough money allocated to prison

II. Pre Katrina Criminal Justice System

-bad management

- corruption

III. Funding

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- very little funding for prison

- couldn't afford to place prisoners at other prisons

IV. Types of Prisoner (incarcerated during Katrina)

-most prisoners were in prison for public drinking and parking tickets

- not many "major" criminals

V. Orleans Parish Prison During Katrina

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- fell apart

- unorganized

- no plan for evacuation of prisoner

VI. Prisoner Living Conditions

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- locked in cells

- given no food for 3-5 days

- locked in chest high water filled prison

VII. Prisoner Treatment

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- treated as second class citizens

- attacked by guards

VIII. Prisoner Personal Experience (testimonies)

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- scared for life

-shot at

- left in cell if prisoner couldn't easily be gotten

IX. Criminal Justice System (During Katrina)

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- many of the prisoners served longer sentences due to lack of public defenders

X. Orleans Parish Prison Post Katrina

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- still unorganized

- still poorly funded

- new facility

Outline of academic journal
Actual article Garrett, Brandon L., and Tania Tetlow. "Criminal Justice Collapse: The Constitution after Hurricane Katrina." Duke Law Journal 56, no. 1 (2006): 127-78. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40040542.

Main argument The city of New Orleans did not care about the wellment of the prisoners Pre hurricane City was unorganized and did not have a plan in play Sheriff couldn't afford with budget to move all 8,000 of the inmates OPP held Courts did not have backups of any documents Police weren’t given proper equipment for storm No food Water Boats OPP 7th largest prison in U.S. In jail longer due to not getting hearing than if they would have been if they were convicted Building flooded badly No power or air conditioning (90 degree weather) Sewer backed up Prisoner management Guards worried more about the betterment of their families than the inmates Electric cells couldn’t be opened Food couldn't be distributed safely

(non academic journal) "Summary of Testimonials From Inmates Incarcerated at Orleans Parish Prison During Hurricane Katrina." American Civil Liberties Union. Accessed October 11, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/other/summary-testimonials-inmates-incarcerated-orleans-parish-pr Ison-during-hurricane-katrina. Source: Testimonials from Inmates Incarcerated at New Orleans Old Parish Prison during Hurricane Katrina Main argument Prisoners during landfall of Hurricane Katrina and the following days after experienced inhumane conditions due to: Lack of resources to survive Unjust treatment from deputies Basic Points The lack of resources to survive a hurricane Inmates left with no food or water Inmate 1: Wasn’t fed or given water for three days (August 29-31) Once moved to Interstate 10 prisoners were losing consciousness from lack of food and water No power provided for inmates Caused them to take matters into their own hands and started fires Inmate 5: These fires caused many breathing problems for inmates due to the lack of ventilation in the prison Unjust treatment from deputies Neglect of inmates during flooding Inmates left to die in rising water Evidence: Inmate 1: Female inmate was left locked in cell for three days with chest high water Inmate 5: those who could not be easily moved from cells were left in jail to die by deputies Assault / abuse of inmates Inmates were shot at and beaten up by deputies Evidence: Inmate 3: hit on head with pump and maced by deputy

Article Evaluation link- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formalism_(art)

Gabrielle Tolliver September 27, 2018 Human Rights History Finalize Topic

Topic: How New Orleans’ prisoners were treated during Hurricane Katrina.

Previously in class I chose to do Human Rights in Costa Rica,but I decided to choose a topic that was more personal. One that does not get the attention in this city, one that deserves justice. During the preparation for Hurricane Katrina, the prisoners in the city were not given any evacuation opportunities or materials needed to survive during such a massive storm. This goes against modern day human rights as we know them. Giving the incarcerated basic rights to leave the city just as any other citizen was of no importance to the leaders in the city. Their stories should not be silenced anymore ; their voices deserved to be heard.

In the Hurricane Katrina article on Wikipedia there is only two sentences about the prisoners “There is evidence that many prisoners were abandoned in their cells during the storm, while the guards sought shelter. Hundreds of prisoners were later registered as "unaccounted for". What happened to these prisoners? Was there a plan for their transplant somewhere else? What occurred to the prisoners who did survive the storm? In these sources there are descriptions of how the inmates were treated and the living conditions these prisoners had to endure.

Resources: Testimonials from Inmates Incarcerated at Orleans Parish Prison during Hurricane Katrina https://www.aclu.org/files/images/asset_upload_file182_23418.pdf New Orleans: Prisoners Abandoned in Floodwater https://www.hrw.org/news/2005/09/21/new-orleans-prisoners-abandoned-floodwaters Hurricane Katrina and the Lost Prisoners of New Orleans https://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-shaw/hurricane-katrina-and-the_b_541639.html

"Exile Nation: Drugs, Prisons, Politics & Spirituality" by Charles Shaw

17:13, 30 August 2018 (UTC)Gabrielletolliver (talk)