Abandoned and Abused

In a comprehensive report from our National Prison Project, the ACLU documents the terrible conditions and dangerous lack of planning at the Orleans Parish Prison during and after Hurricane Katrina.

This report focuses on the experience of thousands of individuals trapped in the prison during and after the storm, and recounts the nightmare many of them later faced at various receiving facilities around Louisiana.

The approaching anniversary of the storm creates an opportunity to reevaluate the systems that were in place leading up to Katrina and to assess whether those systems have since improved.

READ MORE
> Complete National Prison Project Report (PDF)
> Executive Summary
> Table of Contents
> Press Statement

OTHER RESOURCES
> "One Among Many" (video from Human Rights Watch) (off-site, QuickTime)
> Hurricane Aftermath and the ACLU

NEWS
> ACLU Report Details Horrors Suffered by Orleans Parish Prisoners After Katrina (8/10/2006)
> Rights Body Harshly Criticizes US Human Rights Record (7/18/2006)
> ACLU Demands Information on Racial Profiling and Use of Force in New Orleans (4/06/2006)
> Advocates Urge Accountability for US Human Rights Crisis (3/16/2006)
> ACLU Urges New Orleans City Council to Review Conditions at Prison (12/8/2005)
> Men and Women at Orleans Parish Prison Detail Chaos Following Katrina (11/17/2005)