Equal Justice Society News

In the months following Hurricane Katrina, the Equal Justice Society worked to ensure more just treatment of evacuees and those whose lives were forever altered in the aftermath of the storm. In November, EJS filed a class action suit, as co-counsel with the Public Interest Law Project, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and law firms from New York and New Orleans against FEMA in Louisiana's Eastern District Court. The following month, EJS submitted a petition to the United Nations and several United States agencies demanding redress for victims of Katrina.

Legal Action

On December 9, a hearing on a Temporary Restraining Order and preliminary injunction was held in McWaters v. FEMA. The hearing focused upon whether the Federal Emergency Management Agency should allow more than 100,000 people to be evicted from hotel and motel rooms in mid-December, as the winter cold settled across the country.

Plaintiffs argued strenuously that Judge Stanwood R. Duval should issue a court order requiring FEMA to continue paying for hotels and motels for those displaced until at least February 2006. The government’s primary defense was a claim of sovereign immunity. Defense lawyers argued that FEMA’s actions were “discretionary” and therefore immune from judicial review. The government postulated that this immunity was so comprehensive that it insulated FEMA from judicial oversight, even in the face of blatant constitutional violations by FEMA.

Ms. Lenora Bartley, a pregnant New Orleans evacuee currently living in Texas with her 8-year-old son, testified that she had to rely on fast food for her family because she had no cooking facilities in her motel room.

“We had a life. We had stability,” Bartley said. Then, breaking into tears, she added: “My son is looking forward to Christmas, I can't even give him a Christmas.” The courtroom, filled with hurricane survivors who made the trek to see firsthand the legal process that would determine many of their fates, was visibly moved by her testimony.

Another plaintiff, Ms. Jessica Matthews was encouraged to return to New Orleans by her landlord only to be evicted to make room for high-rent paying contractors, a FEMA official and a former FEMA employee who worked as a call-center worker. Matthews told the court of her repeated difficulties accessing information from FEMA online and by telephone. During her testimony, many of the survivors sitting in the court echoed her frustration.

A FEMA official testified that FEMA was overwhelmed by the onslaught of hurricane evacuees and that they needed additional trained personnel so that they could respond to the vast needs of evacuees.

Just a few days later on December 12, Judge Stanley Duval issued a temporary injunction against FEMA, ordering FEMA to continue paying for hotel and motel rooms for evacuees through at least Feb. 7, 2006.

In his written opinion, Judge Duval noted the disproportionate harm suffered by the African-American community: “In New Orleans, 28% of the city’s residents were living in poverty prior to Katrina, and those who were poor commonly lacked their own means of transport….About one of every three people who lived in areas hit hardest by Katrina were African-American; in contrast, one of every eight people in the nation is African-American. More than one in three [B]lack households in New Orleans (35%), and nearly three in five poor [B]lack households (59%) lacked a vehicle.”

The judge further stated that FEMA’s refusal to continue paying for motel/hotel rooms “not only discriminate[s] against victims based on the grounds of economic status…but also violate[s] the intent of Congress in providing for disaster aid to…alleviate the suffering of those most affected by Hurricane Katrina.”

The court also found that FEMA violated its mandatory duty by failing to clearly explain the requirements necessary to receive Temporary Housing Assistance. In the weeks and months after the hurricane, FEMA’s actions led applicants to believe that a Small Business Administration loan application was a necessary prerequisite to receiving temporary Housing Assistance, though FEMA declared in court filings that an SBA loan had never been a requirement. The court ordered FEMA to disseminate information to evacuees to correct the misunderstanding it created to expedite the processing and disbursement of benefits for those in need of temporary housing assistance.

“Katrina showed us that the most vulnerable communities - who are already victims of racial and economic inequality - will likely be the ones to suffer most,” said Eva Paterson, president of EJS. “Had FEMA been allowed to cut off support for the almost 100,000 hurricane victims, it would have been another sad example of how this disaster is less about rain and wind than it is about race and class.”

Political Petition

In December, EJS filed a petition demanding justice for those affected by Hurricane Katrina, addressed both to U.S. government officials and the United Nations. Among EJS demands were that President George W. Bush “Cease his continuing disregard for…the economic and physical well-being of the American people – especially poor people of color – in pursuing his agenda to weaken our federal government,” and that Congress “Hold congressional hearings to study the role of race and poverty in FEMA disaster response,” and “Insist that Katrina’s victims have a right to return and funds with which to rebuild their homes and their lives.”

Realizing that the pressure of international agencies would be necessary to hold President Bush and his appointees accountable for their actions and decisions prior to and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, EJS also made a demand to the United Nations that it “monitor and investigate the willful human rights violations committed by the United States government."

The petition was submitted to the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights, with copies to the Commission on Human Rights, the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the Special Rapporteurs on Internal Displaced Persons, Racism and the Right to Adequate Housing.

The response to EJS petition from the U.N. agencies was enthusiastic. On January 6, Walter Kälin, Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, responded, “Like you, I have also recognised that natural disasters can give rise to ... numerous human rights issues that require particular attention, including with respect to vulnerable groups.”

On January 9, EJS joined 36 other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to submit a joint memo to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The memo detailed a number of human rights concerns, including the failure of the United States "to guarantee equal and effective protection against racial discrimination in the context of disaster rescue, relief and reconstruction efforts" in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Signatories to the memo requested that the Committee question the United States government as to what steps are being taken “to ensure that racial minorities are not disproportionately affected by natural disasters” and “to ensure that resources are equitably distributed to racial minorities” in the wake of natural disasters.

EJS is coordinating with other NGOs to ensure that Equal Protection issues remain at the forefront when the U.N. Human Rights Committee convenes in New York in March.

EJS also is working with NGOs to develop a comprehensive communications strategy for the March meetings and related public education campaigns.

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