Remember the people who were trying to get out of New Orleans after Katrina and were not permitted to cross the Mississippi River Bridge (the GNO, or the CCC, if you’re from around here…)? A judge shot down their attempt at a lawsuit.
Police win partial victory in bridge lawsuit
By Paul Purpura West Bank bureau
A federal judge has ruled that police in Jefferson Parish did not violate the constitutional right to travel of people who were denied passage on the Crescent City Connection in the days following Hurricane Katrina. U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon also shot down the plaintiffs’ request for class action status, saying they missed the 90-day deadline set in federal court rules.
I’d like to point out that the people who DID make it across the bridge looted and burned a mall that has still not fully reopened. While these particular folks may have had perfectly innocent motives to cross the bridge, the fact is there was nowhere for them to go once they crossed. No shelter, no food, no water, no power, no transportation. Just downed power lines, dangerous debris and dozens of miles to cross on foot before they got anywhere better.
But for all the folks who are outraged about William Jefferson’s re-election – this incident is what set the events in motion for that to happen, believe it or not. Jefferson’s opponent was Karen Carter, who appeared in Spike Lee’s movie propaganda piece about Katrina the eeeevil Rethuglican Chimpy McHalliHitler whose main goal in life is to kill black people. Carter harshly criticized the deputies who blocked the bridge, claiming racism. The sheriff, Harry Lee, didn’t appreciate the unwarranted attack on his deputies. So he endorsed Jefferson. Lee is hugely popular, and what Jefferson lost in the black vote in Orleans, he gained in the white vote in the neighboring parish where Lee is the sheriff. (Not that Carter would have been better, really – she just hasn’t been caught yet.)
Only in New Orleans.
I’m not entirely up on this case but it seems to me that these people should at least get their day in court.
They DID have their day in court – their case was so without merit that the judge refused to let them proceed further. No laws were broken, no rights were violated, so they have no grounds on which to sue.
So I suppose You(laura) would have felt the same way if you was trying to cross the bridge to get away from hell. I bet your a young White lady, who has never had any struggle(other than dad not getting you a BMW) and saw these people as thugs and killers not victims… Look at the PEOPLE not their skin. Would you feel the same if you MOther or Father was out there. I think Not…
Rashad,
Re-read those three sentences until you understand that the West Bank was not an improvement. If they were perfectly innocent people, had they crossed the bridge all they would have been greeted with was a pack of arsonists and looters in the mall at the foot of the bridge – obviously a dangerous situation. If they were not innocent, there was still no reason to let them proceed. The cops who stopped them knew that evacuations had begun at the convention center and that returning there was the best chance those people had of getting help.
And I’ve had quite a bit more to deal with than not receiving a BMW, thanks. I’ve been widowed, pregnant, on welfare, evicted from my apartment… my life has been far from a bed of roses. But even if it had been, that has absolutely no bearing on this situation. The best, fastest help for those folks was back at the convention center. Period.