During hurricane Katrina there were more than 100 teenagers in the Orleans Parish Prison. The prisoners were not evacuated before the storm because there was no formal plan in place. After the storm they were there for three to five days. In these few days these teenagers endured horrifying conditions with no food or clean water, stuck in flooded cells.
In this prison the inmates were treated unfairly both before and after the storm. Before the storm the New Orlean's juvenile justice system was recognized as one of our country's worst - where more people were locked up, per capita, than in any other state. Prisons there were known as places of routine beatings and systematic deprivation. Federal authorities concluded that conditions were unconstitutional. Even with this being said, its took until after Katrina for something to be done about their justice system. Teenage prisoners were nearly left for death in their cells one explained "We went five days without eating. Kids were passing out in their cells." The prison's lack of water and food was quite apparent, their rescue was described as 'standing in the floodwater for a whole day, some were even drinking the water in the streets.' I see this situation as unfair. These kids sentences could have been so minor and yet they had to stay locked in their cells with no food or water. I also think it is shameful that the prison didn't have a set plan in place to evacated the prisoners.
Under no circumstances do I think it was okay for the teenage prisoners to be left in these cells during one of the worst hurricanes in US history. Hopefully going forward the New Orleans juvenile justice system can work out some of its flaws and create a plan for if another hurricane strikes New Orleans.
(in response to: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/10/us/10prison.html?_r=0)
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