New Orleans: Prisoners Abandoned to Floodwaters

[Kailassa]

New Orleans: Prisoners Abandoned to Floodwaters

Officers Deserted a Jail Building, Leaving Inmates Locked in Cells

(New York, September 22, 2005)—As Hurricane Katrina began pounding New Orleans, the sheriff's department abandoned hundreds of inmates imprisoned in the city’s jail, Human Rights Watch said today.

“Of all the nightmares during Hurricane Katrina, this must be one of the worst,” said Corinne Carey, researcher from Human Rights Watch. “Prisoners were abandoned in their cells without food or water for days as floodwaters rose toward the ceiling.” ...

According to inmates interviewed by Human Rights Watch, they had no food or water from the inmate’s last meal over the weekend of August 27-28 until they were evacuated on Thursday, September 1. By Monday, August 29, the generators had died, leaving them without lights and sealed in without air circulation. The toilets backed up, creating an unbearable stench. ...

Human Rights Watch compared an official list of all inmates held at Orleans Parish Prison immediately prior to the hurricane with the most recent list of the evacuated inmates compiled by the state Department of Corrections and Public Safety (which was entitled, “All Offenders Evacuated”). However, the list did not include 517 inmates from the jail, including 130 from Templeman III.


http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/09/22/usdom11773.htm

[pitohui]

1. oh jeez a man can't win

as mary landrieu said on the topic of the prisoners, "i think i'm gonna have to punch somebody"

we're yelled at because prisoners were taken out first & secured to prevent their escape & more violent crime during the evacuation of the superdome etc

now we're yelled out for not taking the prisoners out soon enough

no offense to humans rights watch, they usu. do a fine job, but do they have any real idea of the SIZE of the disaster we went thru

there is not a damn thing they could have done better under the circumstances

plenty of ppl were not rescued until way after sept 1, jeebus

[Mandate My Ass]

2. "plenty of ppl were not rescued until way after sept 1"

If you lock people in cages, you have the responsibility to take care of their basic human needs.

[hlthe2b]

9. For God's sakes: the point is NO ONE should have been trapped

in NOLA without food or water for days and days--whether a prisoner behind bars, or a black, poor, elderly, disabled person inprisoned in their home, at the Superdome, or the convention center.


NO ONE!

[Mandate My Ass]

13. I know what the point is

There is no excuse for this type of cruelty, even if the person is a criminal. :eyes:

[hlthe2b]

17. pitting one group against another would not seem to suggest

that you do, rolled eyes or not....

[pitohui]

25. well everyone is completely missing my point

the prisoners were evacuated ahead of the ppl in the convention center & the elderly in the superdome, two weeks ago we were yelling that prisoners were evacuated first & little old ladies & single moms w. babies were left to die of exposure

not everyone can be evacuated first

it is not physically possible

choices had to be made, the decision was made to get the prisoners out first

and they are STILL not happy

new orleans is a very poor city, we needed nat'l guard units on the scene, prob. we needed to have nat'l guard moving prisoners BEFORE the hurricane hit

we didn't have it

ppl did the best they damn well could when we were abandoned by the federal gov't

there is no one sitting here who could have done better period

[Ben Ceremos]

31. Furthermore,

the State has the responsibility of safeguarding the prison population. Evacuations are also for those sentenced for crimes.

[pokercat999]

47. Exactly, smoking dope or stealing a car, or even armed

robbery does not carry the death penalty......yet.

[AirAmFan]

54. Here we have someone who obviously never read 'The Pit and the Pendulum'

If he is one of the hundreds of NOLA police officers and prison guards who went AWOL, now we can understand the mentality of somebody with responsibility who simply walks away. "NOLA's finest", indeed! I hope all of them lose their pensions as well as their jobs and careers in law enforcement.

[icymist]

55. Right! Those who abadonded nursing home residents are prosecuted....

but prison guards can get away with adbandoment.

[Gman]

3. I beg your pardon??

There are people at the jail whose job it is to feed and otherwise care for the prisoners. It sounds like someone decided they were no longer going to "feed the animals" and save their own ass. Hell, even people that left their animals left them food and water. Somebody didn't even bother to do that for the prisoners. We left a parakeet in Corpus Christi Wednesday but we left it with plenty of food and water and the light on.

[Judi Lynn]

5. A death sentence isn't appropriate for the men who were at that jail.

From the article:

Many of the men held at jail had been arrested for offenses like criminal trespass, public drunkenness or disorderly conduct. Many had not even been brought before a judge and charged, much less been convicted.

There will NEVER be an excuse for this kind of murderous indifference.

[MidwestTransplant]

12. My gosh, that could have been Cheney or Bush locked in there

if this happened at a different time.

[dchill]

43. "at a different time..."

and in another dimension.

[ret5hd]

6. that's pretty goddamned disgusting...

i don't know what to say...pretty goddamned disgusting.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jobycom]

8. I disagree with you on this one.

Louisiana is prosecuting nursing home owners for doing less. That should have been part of the evacuation plan. "It's too damn hard" is not a good excuse to leave people trapped in a jail cell to possibly drown.

[rman]

23. "not a damn thing they could have done better"

Endless lists of things what could have done better, and things that seemingly were done wrong on purpose (see FEMA) have passed on DU. Have you been paying attention at all?

[pitohui]

27. i was IN the event, were YOU

this is pure hypocrisy, we do not win by lying or exaggerating

three weeks ago, the story was that prisoners were evac'd first, ahead of ppl who committed no crime in the superdome & convention center, including single moms w. kids & the elderly

mary landrieu was personally chewed out because they removed the prisoners first by helicopter to guarantee the safety of the evacuation

now we're telling a completely different tale?

the prisoners actually got first priority, claiming otherwise is not going to convince anyone who was actually trapped in this mess, it just convinces some of us or at least me that there are political reasons the divide & conquer game is being played

sept 1 was THURSDAY, meaning the prisoners got out before any national guard or fema arrived to rescue non-prisoners in many or most areas of new orleans & st. bernard parish, i suggest if you are just stirring shit to stir shit, at least get the time line straight so you don't piss off actual victims

[EFerrari]

49. I think there is more than one story to tell here.

Last week, it was reported on Democracy Now! that the prisoners in the holding cell in St Bernard's parish were not evacuated at all. And these were people who hadn't even been arraigned yet -- just in the holding tank. Prisoners in another area of the facility -- in a gym -- were able to get out through a window, and then they found someone to surrender to.

I am not familiar with NO and obviously don't know their facilities -- how many they have and where and so on. This was a report from someone who worked at the jail, on Democracy Now! sometime last week.

[psychopomp]

39. How appropriate

that your chosen username is an onomatopoeia for a spitting sound.

[Sterling]

51. Who is "we" anyway?

Do you work for FEMA or something?

[Judi Lynn]

4. Something HAS to be done to address this crime, legally.

From the HRW article:

As the water began rising on the first floor, prisoners became anxious and then desperate. Some of the inmates were able to force open their cell doors, helped by inmates held in the common area. All of them, however, remained trapped in the locked facility.

“The water started rising, it was getting to here,” said Earrand Kelly, an inmate from Templeman III, as he pointed at his neck. “We was calling down to the guys in the cells under us, talking to them every couple of minutes. They were crying, they were scared. The one that I was cool with, he was saying ‘I'm scared. I feel like I'm about to drown.' He was crying.”

Some inmates from Templeman III have said they saw bodies floating in the floodwaters as they were evacuated from the prison. A number of inmates told Human Rights Watch that they were not able to get everyone out from their cells.
(snip)

“It was complete chaos,” said a corrections officer with more than 30 years of service at Orleans Parish Prison. When asked what he thought happened to the inmates in Templeman III, he shook his head and said: “Ain't no tellin’ what happened to those people.”

“At best, the inmates were left to fend for themselves,” said Carey. “At worst, some may have died.”
(snip)

[aquart]

26. "some may have died"

HOW MANY? Why don't we know by now?

[0007]

37. Hush! Tis cover up and finger pointing time.

Police did do a good job arresting a 72 year old women for looting. She was let go becuase it was a mistake.

[Blue Diadem]

10. 2 men from our area were in that prison- they are still imprisoned

and have yet to have their day in court for a simple misdemeanor. An article in the Toledo Blade today described what they went through:

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050923/NEWS08/509230402/-1/NEWS

2 Toledo tourists stranded in Louisiana prisons after Katrina

snip:

A few too many drinks, a stumble and a fall on Bourbon Street, and the appearance of a dispute, which the men say was overblown, resulted in misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges against them and an overnight visit to the Orleans Parish Prison.

In normal times, Mr. Kunkel, 44, and Mr. Waganfeald, 39, would have paid fines totaling about $300 each the following morning - a Saturday - fetched their car from the French Quarter parking garage, retrieved their luggage from the Super 8 motel on nearby I-10, and left for Toledo.

snip:

Mr. Kunkel, in a letter to a friend, Cynthia Meyers of Toledo, said the guards abandoned the prison sometime on Aug. 28 and that the prisoners were left unattended and without food, anything to drink, or electricity for three days, as the floodwaters slowly filled their cells.

"I thought I was going to die in that jail. I was locked down in a cell made for two with five people, no working toilet, no food, and no protection. People were panicking, breaking windows, setting fires - anything to try to get someone's attention from the outside. No one knew if we were forgotten. Three days later they cut the jail bars and let us out. The water was up to my chest. I was drinking that water for a day and a half. It was filthy and contaminated. But I did not know what else I could do. I wanted to live."

[Julius Civitatus]

11. Third world country

That's what Katrina has revealed: we are a third-world country ruled by a few extremely rich elite. These stories from Katrina are truly disturbing.

[Massachusetts]

14. "New Orleans: Prisoners Abandoned to Floodwaters"

Ooops....more of Mother Liberty's Ass haseen exposed.....

[htuttle]

15. They call it a 'prison', but it's a combo city jail/prison

There were people in there for misdemeanor city offenses (like drunk and disorderly, etc...) that ended up getting the death penalty.

I've read numerous reports of prisoners drowning in the lower cells.


on edit: I just noticed that someone already mentioned that.

[tatertop]

16. I did not know people were left abandoned to drown

I wonder how many of those 517 died in the chamber of horrors?
And I wonder how many others didn't even make the
missing in action list.

[htuttle]

20. The guards there were/are a bunch of sadistic motherfuckers

Speaking from my own personal experience, at least.

Here's more on the situation there from this week:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/13/1354215

(snip)
And as the water began rising, they were moved from that floor up to a higher floor, and ultimately they were placed by the guards in the gymnasium area in the facility, where they were locked in. Once the guards placed them there, they did not see any guards again. Some of the men that were on the same floor where they were, were not in this open gymnasium area, they were in holding cells. And as the water began rising, it got higher and higher. They had been there about a day-and-a-half with no food or water, and they had not seen any guards.

And the water rose until it reached chest level. The men in the gymnasium were able to break the windows out of the gymnasium, and they literally swam out of that room to escape from the prison, but the men that were in the holding cells could not get out. And the men that I spoke to that were able to free themselves were very, very certain that the other men in those holding cells have drowned.

These men that were able to free themselves literally swam out of the building and then found a guard to turn themselves in to. And they were then placed on buses and brought from Orleans to Hunt Correctional Center where they were given blankets, and they basically slept on the hillside for another day or into the following day, when they were placed on buses and brought here to Rapides Parish.

And again, one of the many problems that we're facing and I don't know we have a solution to is until we can reconstruct the records of the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Department, we will not even know who was housed in the various Orleans Parish facilities. We're not going to know how many inmates did not make it out of those facilities.

(more at link)

[tatertop]

22. wow

[Kagemusha]

18. People asked me why prisoners elsewhere were cared for.

THIS is why. This duty of care business.

[Ian David]

19. Does Louisiana purge felons from voter roles?

If not, this might have been one way to get them out of the voting booths.

[Mizmoon]

21. Reminds me of "The Stand" n/t

[doodadem]

35. Another Steven King fan!

I thought the same thing--already polished off the dead rat. Going to keep that dead guy's leg within reach--just in case......

[nothometoday]

56. AWESOME movie...

A little too fitting these days....

[ima_sinnic]

24. the prison story on NOLA.com is a little different

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09_23.html#082074

I don't know and don't have time right now to research whether they are talking about the same prison(s) or to figure out whose story is more credible. Most likely there is some truth in all of these accounts. One thing I am relieved NOT to read, as a rumor had it, that prisoners were simply released into the Convention Center.

[pitohui]

28. the nola story sounds like the correct one to me

it's what we were told at the time

don't you remember mary saying, "i'm going to have to punch somebody" if she got any more shit abt helicopters being used to evac prisoners while ppl were still in the superdome & convention center?

we can't have it both ways

everybody can't be the first to evac

it was a bad situation for everyone, nothing specially bad for the prisoners

[Ripley]

30. "nothing specially bad for the prisoners"

Read post 10 and tell me that isn't "specially bad."

Leaving people locked in a cell during this catastrophe was a death sentence. And one handed out to some who had not even gone to court for committing such heinous crimes as "drunk and disorderly in the French Quarter."

Anyone who defends the pigs who committed those police actions is a Nazi.

And who the fuck do you think you are referring to "we?"

[Judi Lynn]

32. The only links I'm finding refer to the same episode, and don't mention

the prisons at all.

They all refer to her remarks concerning _Bush:

Appearing on ABC's "The Week" TV program this morning, Senator Landrieu still appeared to be smarting from President Bush's comments, during his national radio address, that state and local bore a fair share of blame for the slow response. On a copter tour of the area, Landrieu said that if she heard any more criticism from federal officials, particularly about the evacuation of New Orleans, she might lose control.

"If one person criticizes them or says one more thing - including the president of the United States - he will hear from me," she said on the ABC program. "One more word about it after this show airs and I might likely have to punch him. Literally."
(snip)

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054594

[sandnsea]

40. Who was first isn't even the damned point

The point is they shouldn't have been left there in the first place. Where is the prison evacuation plan?

What disturbs me more is the fact that your jails have a population of 6400. WTF?? Seattle is about the same size as New Orleans and is upset about an increase in their jail populations to 3000. Why is New Orleans locking up so many people? A tourist in jail when a hurricane is coming? Why didn't they let all nonviolent offenders out? Who fucking cares about petty crimes when a Cat 5 hurricane is coming?

And what the hell is this? "They (DOC) showed up with all the things we didn't have: shotguns with beanbag rounds, tasers, rubber bullets, riot gear, bulletproof shields."

Not food and/or water?? They had a choice on what to bring into the jail and didn't choose food and water???

Add this to the story about the vigilantes "defending" their neighborhood, also choosing to bring in weapons instead of food and water, and then shooting 3 dead in the street; and I know the south has a lot bigger problems than a hurricane.

[Catrina]

44. You say you were there

You are holding yourself to know more than those of us who were not. What was your position there? Were you a guard, a prisoner, a cop, a relief worker?

And Mary Landrieu was talking about George Bush, AIRC, when she said she 'would punch him'.

The prisoneres in that prison, could have been released since they were non-violent offenders.

This must be the only country in the civilized world, that put live patients (old, frail people) into a morgue because it was 'expedient' while refusing to let volunteer doctors who were there, give them a drink of water, all they needed to stay alive.

What a country. They worked all their lives to end up alive, in a morgue, with no help, left to die so they wouldn't be a problem for anyone else. This is the democracy the WORLD is coming to hate, that G.W. Bush wants to bring to other countries.

Today, again because of bad planning, 24 elderly patients are blown up in a bus on the highway, because someone didn't have the qualifications or the brains to make sure that such people were taken by side roads to their destinations. This is what YOU TOO are working toward. And I guess that too, WAS THEIR FAULT!!

Then, prisoners are left to die like garbage, human beings, in this president's 'culture of life' society, while was strumming a guitar somewhere. But, he rushed back to DC to sign legislation to keep one woman on a feeding tube. He is a fake, a phony and a criminal.

Nightmare stuff that makes me think there is no hope for this country, especially when we have citizens who are DEFENDING it!!! Good luck to you, if this is the kind of society you want. Someday, one of those old people might by you.

This all happened because of BAD PLANNING. We are learning now that FEMA reps. were GOOGLING to find ways to get buses for NO!! While qualified people did not even have their calls answered.

You say none of us could have done better??? Wrong, before this storm happened, ordinary people DID outline plans, for prisons, for hospitals and nursing homes. And yes, for animals.

You don't seem to understand that there were NO plans. That they stopped those who could have helped.

This is the best the mighty USA can do?? God, Cuba has evacuated nearly a million people with only two or three deaths. China also.

You really have low standards it seems, as to what you expect from your government. Me, I expect a great deal more than these horrible nightmare scenarios, where the old, the sick the least among us, are left to die horribly by an cruel, barbaric and uncaring, but greedy and sick administration. How come this never happened before??? Bush and his cabal need to be tossed out of office NOW. They have done the same awful, and worse actually, deeds to the Iraqi people.

How anyone can try t excuse it I do not understand. If we read this about Saddam, what would you be saying, I wonder?

[Sterling]

52. nothing specially bad for the prisoners

Wow you sound like a real Dick.

[jbnow]

29. How well I remember

reporters asking if jails would be evacuated. I was horrified to hear the smug sheriff saying they'll stay where they belong,in jail.

That was when they expected a cat 5 hurricane. Nothing about the jail being on high ground. We wrote some about it then. I couldn't believe a sentence for a misdemeanor might be death...

Everyone locked up...in those jails or the convention center or stadium, treated like shit, scared for their life, stripped of all dignity, left without food or water or hope (or the families of those that didn't make it) should get as much money as 9/11 victims because WE did this to them.

[genius]

33. How many, if any, died? This is horrible. It is worse if they died.

[malaise]

38. One more disgrace

but why should the prisoners expect any better treatment than the rest of honest poor people received from these disinterested inhumane scum.
They don't give a rat's ass.

[misternormal]

34. Unfortunate fact

In the future, our society at this point may well be judged on how prisoners were treated.

[Lochloosa]

36. And don't forget, most county jails hold not only people convicted

of crimes but people CHARGED with a crime. Some are not criminals. Innocent till proven guilty. Oh wait. I forgot what country I live in...:shrug:

[Iris]

41. Are you sure that's true? B/c a co-worker of mine claims car jackings in

Atlanta and other larger southern cities has increased because they LET ALL THE PRISONERS GO!!!! And now they're out and about and STEALING people's cars!!!!

But, you won't see this on the news. No way. They're not gonna let on that this is happening.


:sarcasm:

[nothometoday]

57. I have heard similar tales...

that a lot of the rapes and robberies were from prisoners released into the general population...

[demo dutch]

42. Sounds about the same as the Convention Center! Terrible

[mom cat]

45. Just when I thought that it couldn't get any lower...

:grr::nuke::grr:

[rodeodance]

46. shameful.

[The Independant]

48. Eyewitness account

I'm a Louisiana parole officer. We were called in to evacuate the prisoners from Orleans Parish Prison along with many guards from various state prisons. It was a bad situation. We evacuated Jefferson Parish Prison on Monday the 28th. There were about 1000 inmates there, but it was dry and took one day. Early Tuesday we started evacuating OPP.

The prisoners had to walk through about 200 yards of water to get to the Broad Street overpass. The first tow days we had to use airboats to get the prisoners to Hwy 90 to the buses, but on Thursday we were able to construct a scaffolding from Hwy 90 up to the overpass for them to climb down. The airboats were only used for the infirm prisoners that couldn't climb.

You have to understand that there were 6000 prisoners in there and we worked 24 hrs a day from Tuesday morning until we finished at 7pm on Thursday. We were able to get water in to them on Wednesday but no food until Thursday on Hwy 90.

The Sheriff was no where to be seen. It was strictly the Louisiana Department of Corrections that got them out.

There were many DOC prisoners in there and their records are kept in Baton Rouge, so after fingerprinting, we could see were they needed to be. There were also some Federal prisoners there too that could be id'd. The problem was the Parish inmates. Their records were ruined and we didn't know if they were there waiting for court for public drunk or murder.

New Orleans court is trying to set up shop in Baton Rouge, but with all the attorney's, clerks, judges, ect. evacuated and staying with family all over the country its been hard.

Just a little inside info for everyone.

[5thGenDemocrat]

50. Thank you for the report

And thank you for doing what you could.
John
Which, apparently, is more than we can say about the local sheriff.

[AirAmFan]

53. Did you see waterlines inside jail cells? How close did they get to ceilings?

Could people have died if you State officers had taken a few hours longer to get there? Is everyone who was in the jail now accounted for, or is it possible some inmates DID perish because of the sheriff's outrageous flight from responsibility?

[marshall]

58. Passive tense?

The use of the passive tense does not identify the responsible party. Shouldn't it have been "Parish officials abandon prisoners to a watery death"? A headline that reads "Prisoners Abandoned" makes one wonder who did it.