After Katrina - Federal courts reopen while State courts are still closed

I am just reading an article about the Federal Courts in Louisiana. To my surprise: they are reopen!

Federal courts have reopened in hurricane-stricken Louisiana, albeit somewhat sporadically, but state courts remain in disarray. Hard to see it otherwise after all the Katrina destuction.

We experience in our daily work a matter which is in the Federal Court in Louisiana but the Court is in session in Houston. Interesing way to create justice. I guess it is better than just stop working.

I found a quote which I want to share: “This is not a food or shelter issue, it is beyond FEMA’s ability to comprehend,” said Phyllis Mann, past president of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “We’re talking about destruction of the criminal justice system.”

It seems that staff housing and schools for their children, not court infrastructure, have presented major obstacles. It is not the flodded court house, it is the flodded residential situation. “We hadn’t focused on that but it turns out to be a major consideration,” said Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ temporary headquarters in Houston.

Good luck to all the victims of Katrina!