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Angry
hurricane evacuees sue feds
By
C.C. Campbell-Rock
San Francisco Bay View
Novvember 30, 2005
A few
short months after the nation’s greatest natural disaster,
Hurricane Katrina, followed by Hurricane Rita, the news media
are reporting that donor-weary Americans are moving on with their
lives and preparing for the holidays.
That
reality flew in the face of members of the Hurricane Evacuee Council-Bay
Area, who experienced disinterest and insensitivity from about
60 percent of the spectators who rushed past them to get to the
tree lighting ceremony in Ghirardelli Square on Friday.
The
majority of celebrants ignored evacuees’ request for support
of their demands for justice, which include proper housing, access
to information concerning resources, help with transportation,
job referrals, quality family care, no discrimination, full accountability
and the money and resources the federal government promised.
One
broadcast news reporter summed up the callous attitude of the
general public in one short question: “What do you say to
people who say, ‘Gee, it’s been three months; they (evacuees)
should have jobs by now,” she asked.
The
answer is: Evacuees are neither looking for a handout nor for
anyone to take care of them. What they are looking for is the
U.S. government to accept responsibility for the “man-made”
disaster that forced the evacuation of thousands: The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers and the New Orleans Levee Board, a state-appointed
body, fiddled while New Orleans’ levees crumbled. They’d
known for years that the levees could blow at any time.
What
has also been underreported is that the majority of evacuees are
taxpaying Americans, who worked and paid more than their share
of local, state and federal taxes.
Seeking
justice in the courts
The
recent spate of legal actions around the poor treatment of evacuees
– from attempts to evict thousands to demands for equal justice
and compensation comparable to that received by others, for example,
9-11 victims – is typical of the fighting spirit of southerners,
especially Black southerners, who do not tolerate injustice.
Hurricane
evacuees in the Bay Area and elsewhere aren’t taking the
shoddy treatment lying down. Now into court come 13 plaintiffs
in a class action lawsuit filed Nov. 10 in the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The
legal team consists of attorneys from the San Francisco-based
Equal Justice Society, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
Under the Law based in Washington, D.C., and Schulte, Roth &
Zabel LLP, a New York law firm. John K. Pierre, Southern University
law professor, is the local counsel on the lawsuit. Attorney Steve
Ronfeldt of the Public Interest Law Project in Oakland and attorney
Eva Patterson, president and CEO of the Equal Justice Society,
also worked on the complaint.
The
lawsuit, the first filed against FEMA regarding its response to
Katrina, says the agency violated – and continues to violate
– federal law by failing to provide timely aid to victims
of Hurricane Katrina living in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
“There
is no excuse for this failure by FEMA or for its refusal to fulfill
its mandate,” said John C. Brittian of the Lawyers Committee.
“Without judicial oversight, there is little chance that
the victimization will cease or that FEMA will come through with
the services it is legally obligated to provide.”
The
suit specifically seeks a judicial order to force FEMA to “obey
the laws put into place to address the problems associated with
this kind of tragedy … Hurricane Katrina was an act of nature,
but its inhumane consequences were predicted and, thus, avoidable.”
The
legal brief spelled out FEMA’s 2004 participation in “Hurricane
Pam,” a hypothetical emergency preparedness drill based on
a massive storm that would produce the same damage Katrina ultimately
did:
“FEMA
and its leadership did not heed the warnings of Hurricane Pam
or implement any of the precautions it called for that, at a minimum,
would have mitigated some of the heartbreaking personal anguish
and suffering that continues to this day. … Federal law requires
FEMA to provide assistance to disaster victims with, among other
things, financial assistance to rent housing, or by supplying
them with a trailer or mobile home. This assistance is guaranteed
by the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act,”
the brief states.
“More
than two months after Hurricane Katrina struck, thousands of disaster
victims still have not received their desperately needed assistance
from FEMA and, as a result, continue to be victimized and to suffer
harm each and every day, this time at the hands of their own federal
government.”
Additionally,
the Stafford Act allows victims to be housed for 18 months from
the date the president declares a disaster, and assistance may
be extended beyond that time.
Can
Equal Justice Society and co-counsel win in court?
It’s
long been common knowledge that the federal government has legal
immunity from various types of legal action. Therefore, the question
becomes: Can any one person or group successfully sue the federal
government? And if so, can EJS and its co-counsel win the pending
class action lawsuit while a judge who can hear the case, in the
Eastern District, is found?
“Several
of the available judges in the Eastern District sustained personal
damage to their homes and lives, which may constitute a conflict
of interest for any judge hearing the case. As such, the case
is on hold until a neutral jurist can be found,” says attorney
Charles Ogletree, EJS chairman and Harvard University law professor.
“The
federal government always had immunity from lawsuits. The difference
here is that the feds went on the record saying it would do everything
necessary to address the plight of the victims. There was talk
of spending $200 billion and compensation comparable to that given
during the 9-11 tragedy.
“Since
that time, less than one third of the promised funds have been
used. What makes this case is that it has exceptional merits.
Survivors are asking President Bush to keep his promise. It will
be an uphill battle (winning the case), but it is one we are ready
for,” Ogletree added.
Evictions
stopped!
Meanwhile,
attorneys in New Orleans got busy in an effort to stop thousands
of Katrina refugees from being evicted by landlords in Orleans
and Jefferson parishes. Their successes add to the optimistic
outlook of many that the courts may, indeed, provide justice.
The
Grassroots Legal Network along with the Loyola Law Clinic, the
Advancement Project, the People’s Advocacy Center and New
Orleans Legal Assistance Center brought suit against the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, its component FEMA and the Orleans
and Jefferson parishes on behalf of the People’s Hurricane
Relief Fund, UNITE-HERE Local 50-2, SEIU Local 21, ACORN New Orleans
and individual tenants being victimized by landlords post-Hurricane
Katrina.
Last
Tuesday, they won a stay of all evictions until 45 days after
FEMA mails a notice to each of the evacuees. This was a victory
on two counts: Evacuees threatened with eviction will have a little
time “to rescue their possessions and decide whether they
wish to return to their homes,” Bill Quigley, a lead attorney
on the case, explains. And the agreement also forces FEMA to divulge
to the courts the evacuees’ current addresses. Previously,
FEMA had refused all requests, even from the state of Louisiana.
EJS
turns up the heat
“The
federal government’s performance in the wake of Hurricane
Katrina constitutes one of the great racial justice tragedies
of our time. The class and color lines drawn by this disaster
are undeniable,” Equal Justice Society leadership said in
the civil rights organization’s Nov. 17 petition.
“The
petition is calling for action by Congress, the president, FEMA,
Homeland Security, and the United Nations,” explained attorney
Kimberly Thomas Rapp, public policy director for EJS.
Seizing
on the First Amendment right to petition the government, the document
was delivered to the White House, congressional leadership, the
secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and the acting
director of FEMA. The petition was also presented to several United
Nations agencies, including the Commission on Human Rights and
the office of three Special Rapporteurs on Racism, Internal Displaced
Persons and the Right to Adequate Housing.
The
petition to the federal government calls for “bold action”
in the wake of the nation’s worst hurricane. The 14-point
demands include a call to President Bush to reorder national priorities
and restore funding to federal agencies responsible for fortifying
the nation and administering relief programs.
Professor
Charles Ogletree added validity to the buzz that government has
a vested interest in keeping New Orleanians – particularly
those who are poor and Black – from returning home, when
he made this statement to Katrina evacuees: “Our biggest
concern is that they (government, FEMA, private sector) don’t
scare you into not coming back. Then we’ll have the Donald
Trumps and Donald Ducks taking over property that rightfully belongs
to homeowners.”
Email
CC at campbellrock@sfbayview.com.
Link
to article on sfbayview.com:
http://www.sfbayview.com/113005/evacuees113005.shtml
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