corrections, including parole and probation. Katrina interrupted this regular interaction.
Some of the problems facing other criminal justice institutions continue to hamper the
ability of the NOPD to effectively provide for public safety.
The courts of the region faced varying states of disarray. In New Orleans,
flooding in the police evidence rooms put the possible prosecution of approximately
Jefferson Parish decided to postpone all trials until January of 2006,
although court operations have resumed.
One news account found that approximately
2,500 persons arrested just before Katrina who are facing minor charges are still being
held in detention.
Among the other difficulties facing the court system, a severe
shortage of public defenders is hampering the capacity to dispose of pending cases.
Correctional facilities, like law enforcement, cannot pause their operations.
Holding inmates in secure detention facilities, be they jails or prisons, is a paramount
responsibility. In the days after Katrina news of the fates of inmates indicated that unsafe
conditions abounded. Reports from the Orleans Parish Prison indicate that inmates faced
brutal conditions as the complex flooded, and tension between guards and inmates
escalated until Louisiana State Department of Corrections officers arrived to provide
assistance.
New Orleans eventually transformed its Greyhound Station into a temporary
holding facility.
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating possible prisoner abuse
in Jefferson Parrish following Katrina.
Inmates did contribute to the relief efforts. The
Washington Correctional Institute, a medium-security prison, allowed prisoners to clean
More recently, a lack of public defenders meant that defendants incarcerated
while awaiting trial do not have the opportunity to meet with an attorney. One judge,
Arthur Hunter, began releasing jailed defendants, bringing additional attention to the
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Convention