Racial Profiling - Police checkpoints have spurred increased complaints because of their effect on predominantly African-American communities, and Latino and other immigrant communities are targets of a recent law criminalizing undocumented drivers. p. 61

Discrimination in Housing -In 2006, St. Bernard Parish passed an ordinance that permitted only blood relatives of current residents to purchase or rent housing therein. Because 93% of St. Bernard Parish homeowners are white, only whites would be able to rent single family homes in most circumstances. The parish has stayed enforcement of the ordinance pending a legal challenge to it. p. 38-39

Indigent Defense - In October 2006, when there were 11 attorneys in the New Orleans public defender's office, these lawyers shared a staggering 3,000 cases. p. 52-53

Prisoner and Detainee Abuse - When New Orleans was evacuated a decision was made not to evacuate the Orleans Parish Prison. This decision resulted in many inmates being stranded behind locked cell doors in chest deep water. The overwhelming majority of those inmates — 5,693 people, or 89.3% of the prison population — were black (610 prisoners, or 9.6% of the prison population, were white. Among those left behind were 1,884 unsentenced prisoners. p 94.

Disparate Rates of Minority Confinement - At the two youth centers in the Orleans Parish Prison, 95% or more of the juveniles were African-American. p. 94-95

Police Brutality - During Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of mostly African-American evacuees followed the instruction of New Orleans authorities and attempted to evacuate the city by crossing the Crescent City Connection Bridge into the neighboring city of Gretna. When the evacuees arrived at the bridge, Gretna police officers, who reportedly were ordered by the police chief to seal off the passageway, allegedly fired shots in the direction of the crowd and held some evacuees at gunpoint. p. 120-123

Racial Discrimination in Schools - At Jena High School, students of different races rarely sat together during their free time. The day after a black student sat under the "white tree" — after receiving the principal's permission to do so, nooses were hung from the tree. The students responsible for the nooses were recommended for expulsion, but the school board and Superintendent overruled the recommendation and reduced the punishment to a three-day suspension. p. 158-159

Disparities in the Criminal Justice System - Following the noose incident at Jena High School and the increased racial tensions that followed, there was a fight at the school between black and white children, in which one student suffered minor injuries. Six black students were expelled as a result, and the District Attorney, who also serves as the legal counsel for the school board in expulsion hearings, filed charged against all 6 black students for conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and attempted second degree murder where the "dangerous weapon" required to sustain a felony charge was a tennis shoe. p. 158-159