Hurricane leaves interesting legal problem in its wake...

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Preacherman

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From the Alexandria Daily Town Talk, LA (http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051115/NEWS01/51115005):

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Plan to protect sheriffs from hurricane lawsuits advances in Senate

BATON ROUGE, -- Louisiana’s sheriffs should be protected against most lawsuits from inmates who were evacuated because of a hurricane, then incarcerated beyond their release dates, according to a bill passed by a Senate committee on Tuesday.

Many prisoners in the New Orleans jail were evacuated in the days after Hurricane Katrina struck on Aug. 29, sent to jails around the state and held for weeks after they should have been released. Some spent extensive time in those jails; some were facing minor misdemeanor charges and others had yet to have a court appearance.

Sheriffs who run the jails said they had no records on many of those inmates and no way of knowing when they should be released.

Anticipating a flood of lawsuits from those prisoners, Rep. Danny Martiny, R-Metairie, introduced a bill that would bar most of those inmates from suing the prison authorities. The bill has backing from the powerful Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association.

The state Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers dropped its opposition to the bill after Martiny amended it to allow a lawsuit if the sheriff failed to find out which ones should be released, then release them, “within a reasonable length of time.” George Steimel, the group’s lobbyist, said he believed inmates could sue in federal court even without arguing that the sheriff failed to take those steps in “reasonable” time.

The committee approved the measure without a vote, sending it to the full Senate.

House Bill 28 can be viewed at http://www.legis.state.la.us/
 
But Preach, why would they complain? They had food, shelter, and medical care.

Or are the upset that they weren't given equal time to rape, loot, and burn? Sure, they can do it now, but it just isn't the same.
 
I think it should be total immunity. Or would the inmates rather sit in the NO jails with no power or water? Oh wait I forgot, when I worked in the prisons, we had to try our best to secure the safety of the inmates.:banghead:

And I realize that some were just "in the tank to dry out". But some,:cuss: It just infuriates me to think of what an inmate can sue for. An inmate can sue an officer for using justified force during an altercation. Seen it once or twice during my two year stint as a CO. In fact, I remember being there when the Attorney General's office staff came in one day to take pictures and talk to officers and inmates about this one use of force that happened four years ago.

Someone's signature hits the nail on the head, the inmates are running the asylum.
 
Why should the Sheriff have any immunity at all? It was unlawful detainment; the sheriff had no authority to hold those prisoners who had done their time. Furthermore, the sheriff's negligence deprived them of a portion of their lives that can never be regained. Money is the only thing that can make that right. I say pay up.
 
Or would the inmates rather sit in the NO jails with no power or water?

Or, perhaps, have far too much water...
 
I would rather see it done the way it happened. Rather than let out dangerous criminals, the sheriff did what he thought was in the prisoners best interests. Or would you rather let out the wrong inmate and have to face a lawsuit from a family who's family member was maimed, raped or killed shortly after the inmate's release? I'm not saying that everyone held over was a cold-blooded killer, but that there might have been some inmates who's head was not on straight and wanted to join in on the fun.

I agree that time can not be given back. But I say imunity in toto. The ball was dropped by too many people during Katrina, and that includes W. It's lawsuits like these that make people in positions of authority second guess themselves when the SHTF. If you know that you are 100% in the wrong when you do it. Fine, you should have to pay, fines, restitution, or even jail. But if you think that what you did helped and visibly did help, you should be allowed to go on your merry way.

But then, who defines what helped? There may have been one or two good ones in there. But past experience has shown me that if they are in the tank, they are there for a reason, and that it is not helping little old ladies cross the street. It may be for helping that little old lady lighten her purse a little.

If my comments are inflamitory, I apolgize.:(
 
Was it really too much to ask for the Sheriff to include a littel face-sheet with each prisoner (ar at least the short timers) indicating their offense and status of future release? Seriously, this would seem to be well within the responsibility of the Sheriff, and im rather suprised that such information wasnt included as a simple matter of courtesy for the jurisdictions that were housing the prisoners. This just sounds like more excuses fom a law enforcement system that miserably failed to prepare itself.
 
Heck, a little spreadsheet on a USB drive or a hardcopy with appropriate data would have done the trick:

Last_Name First_Name SSN Offense Release_Date

If they pay me $50,000, I'll design one. I would charge less, but then the gov't wouldn't take me seriously.
 
The_Antibubba said:
But Preach, why would they complain? They had food, shelter, and medical care.

Or are the upset that they weren't given equal time to rape, loot, and burn? Sure, they can do it now, but it just isn't the same.
Click to expand...

Imagine, you're 25 days into a 30 day sentance for failing to pay several parking and speeding tickets. Your employer has promised to retain your job for that 30 days. Katrina comes and you're moved to a medium security lockup with real criminals and kept there for another 3 or 4 weeks or more.
Now you're the one being raped and pillaged. I'd be real interested in suing if that were me.
 
Imagine, you're 25 days into a 30 day sentance for failing to pay several parking and speeding tickets. Your employer has promised to retain your job for that 30 days. Katrina comes and you're moved to a medium security lockup with real criminals and kept there for another 3 or 4 weeks or more.
Now you're the one being raped and pillaged. I'd be real interested in suing if that were me.
Click to expand...

Imagine, you don't pay your parking ticket, you get raped. That's how it's supposed to work, right? I guess you should have paid that parking ticket.

:rolleyes:

Imagine, laws being passed to protect law enforcement when they break laws. Great.
 
There should be no immunity if the person was being held on a minor charge.

A violent felony, well, that's the breaks. But if someone was not a serious threat to society and due for release, why not just let him/her go?

Some of these "criminals" probably posed much less of a threat than some of the NOPD.
 
I think the Sheriff and his designess should be granted immunity. However, I also feel that the inmates due for release should be compensated for their their time., I just dont feel a lawsuit is the way to do it.
 
My first reaction is given the chaos of the situation there is no way that the Sheriffs could reasonably be held accountable.

However; given the total, unprepared, hysterical, incompetence of New Orleans' Democrat fiefdom, this is just another in a long list of things that should have been prepared for.
 
Daniel T said:
Imagine, you don't pay your parking ticket, you get raped. That's how it's supposed to work, right? I guess you should have paid that parking ticket.

:rolleyes:

Imagine, laws being passed to protect law enforcement when they break laws. Great.
Click to expand...

+1, also, do you suppose your employer still had a business to employ you in?
 
magsnubby said:
Screw 'em. If they hadn't of broken the law they wouldn't have been in jail.
Click to expand...

:scrutiny:

Our society has limits on how a person can be punished. Its the Constitution and its amendments.
You can be in jail for a myriad of reasons, many of which are non-violent.
Have you ever sped? Don't lie to me and say no. Forget to pay a few tickets, you could possibly get a warrant issued for your arrest. So the Sheriff shuttles you off to another jail with no records and you say thats the breaks, eh? Don't ever bitch about an oppressive government, then.

Anyone held over thier termof punishment should be duely compensated, or allowed to sue. Anyone who thinks differently is wrong.
 
oct_97 said:
+1, also, do you suppose your employer still had a business to employ you in?
Click to expand...

Its just an example. What you have here is a case of the people being screwed by the government. If they've served thier time then they are being subjected to Cruel and Unusual punishment to be held beyond what a Judge sentanced them to. As soon as the door is opened to allow the changing of a punishment after the fact, you can expect to see other persons punishments change for no good reason. Remember, as a gun owner, this could one day be you.
 
Well hell lets just not arrest anybody for anything. That way we won't have any inmates to worry about detaining over their release date.
 
Bruce H said:
Well hell lets just not arrest anybody for anything. That way we won't have any inmates to worry about detaining over their release date.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:

Smartass.
These people served thier time. Simple as that. The Governments screwed them out of thier time as free individuals. They were sentanced to a certain term by a Judge, and that is thier maximum time for the offense. I think a case could be made for people that would have been on probation being retained, but that would be a weak case. Anyone who thinks these people deserved to be kept for an indetermined amount of time and shouldn't be allowed to be compensated justly for this is an idiot.
 
jfruser said:
Heck, a little spreadsheet on a USB drive or a hardcopy with appropriate data would have done the trick:

Last_Name First_Name SSN Offense Release_Date

If they pay me $50,000, I'll design one. I would charge less, but then the gov't wouldn't take me seriously.
Click to expand...

I will do it for $25K, and I will deliver tomorrow.

Doesn't seem all that unreasonable for these agencies to have a little bit of contingency planning. I work in IS for a "secure" treatment facility, and part of our disaster plan is to have resident records available in multiple formats and in back-up locations. I can guarantee you that should we need to evacuate our population that we will be taking their records with us.
 
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