Posted on 09/03/2005 9:07:35 PM PDT by aft_lizard
Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.
Yep, LA just became a solid red state. It's exactly what would happen in Michigan if Detroit were depopulated.
I looked at the url numbers too and noticed they were in chronological order....but, I don't know if that couldn't be manipulated, either.
Do you know of a concise tutorial on "disaster law?"
The common wisdom perceives a balck and white system for all sorts of terms, like "calling up the Guard," and common sense indicates that there is a more complex substantive system. E.g., the LA Nat'l Guard was at the SuperDome before the storm hit, but more guard are coming in now, etc.
The official correspondence illuminates some of the complexity of the formal and legal mechanisms.
That reads as having only intra-state effect. This is the State of LA declaraing an emergency, which affects only the way state authorites are to act.
I know next to nothing about disaster law, but here we can see that "Martial Law" also comes in more than one flavor - and I don't mean only the terminology, i.e. "State of Emergency" vs. "Martial Law." The "State of Emergency"/"Martial Law" here declared is void of effect with regard to any aspect of the federal government.
I read on one of the many other threads that one of the additional complexities is that the LA legal and governmental system - being based on the Napoleonic Code - is entirely different from any other in the US. The powers of the officials are different, for one thing, and it is not clear that the Governor even has the power to declare martial law.
I'm sure a more resourceful one would have found a way to do so, since that was clearly what was needed, but Blanco is far from resourceful. (Possibly devious, yes, but not resourceful.)
"Stepping in" comes in degrees. The President did step in and urge the governor to issue a State of Emergency Declaration. He did step in and urge a mandatory evacuation.
There is a pre-existing system of "escalation" of intervention from the outside. Understand that if the President asserts more, "steps in" more than asked by the local authorities, he is in effect over-riding their authority, taking over the local government. That's okay if the locals ask for it (essentially giving up control in exchange for relief), and I'm sure there are circumstances where that is done when the locals don't ask for it (e.g., insurrection).
But the reasonable default assumption in a case of disaster is that the locals will ask for the help that they need. Blanco has not YET, today, made the necessary formal request that would put federal officials in charge of the relief. Therefore, Louisina officials are directing the relief effort.
That proclamation is purely an in-state document. It gives state government the power to commandeer property, and it gives state "police" power to suspend some civil liberties.
It has zero effect as to the relationship between the State of Louisiana and the rest of the world.
A distinction can be seen here too, between state declared "martial law" ("state of emergency" being the term of art in LA), and federal "martial law."
The state has control first, as it should be. It's sad to see our governments and bureacracies engaged in turf battles in time of disaster, but turf battles is what politicians are built to do. And in this case, we have a grossly incompetent state and local government (incompetent in the face of this disaster, probably adequate in less stressful situations) in the mix.
Yes - declarations are very specific. They have a territorial aspect, as in what areas will be under the declaration, and they have a force component, i.e., how much and which civil liberties will be suspended.
Not until the people of Louisana call for it. And right now, egged on by Blanco and Nagin, the people of Louisiana, through the national media, are calling Bush incompetent.
Yes. That is it in a nutshell. Turf protection comes ahead of constiuent protection. That -IS- the nature of government, and that is whay we should have less government instead of more government.
here is some of it posted....not sure about wa post legalities...
She is a complete idiot and should be prosecuted for negligence leading to the deaths of many.
No matter what the term of art is (e.g., LA declares "State of Emergency" which is just another word for "martial law," and even those come in any form required to get the task done then restore full civil liberties), the federal/state relationship and state-to-state relationship is independent of the in-state law.
Right now, Blanco is trying to keep the authority, but shed the responsibility.
Absolutely. Not that she ever accepted any responsibility to begin with...
I think the letter is accurately dated. The declaration has zero meaning outside of the state of Louisiana.
On another note, we'll see if the state is serious - it is reported that a bar opened for business in the French Quarter, and the city is still under a mandatory evacuation order.
Bitch at the people you ae asking for relief from. And some suggest that faced with this, the President should forcibly "take over" without being asked to.
It is Alice in Wonderland language, and the reason for using it is to manipulate public sentiment regarding who its leaders should be. The politicians and media have dumbed down the public, and are now taking advantage of that.
There would have been no fight, if this woman did what she was supposed to. I imagine the only reason she hired the former FEMA director was because higher dems stepped in and told her to do something.
She was either plain stupid or in a stupor.
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