JURIST - Paper Chase: Federal government tried legal takeover of Katrina operations: state official

Jurist - Legal News & Research (The University of Pittsburgh Law School) ^ | September 4, 2005 | Kate Heneroty

[George Smiley]

Federal government tried legal takeover of Katrina operations: state official   

Kate Heneroty at 11:15 AM ET

[JURIST] The Washington Post reported Sunday that Bush administration officials sent a draft legal memorandum to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco just before midnight Friday asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, according to a source within the state's emergency operations center. Administration officials had been seeking direct unified control over local police and National Guard units that would otherwise be under the Governor's jurisdiction. According to a senior Bush official, the President has the power (by state request or unilaterally) to federalize National Guard troops and put down civil unrest under the Insurrection Act [text; 2001 Congressional testimony on potential legal and other problems with federalizing the Guard during state emergencies, PDF]. Suspecting a political motive, however, state officials refused to make the request, recognizing its implications for state authority over a state emergency and arguing it would be analogous to a federal declaration of martial law, a legal condition that both the US military [JURIST report] and state authorities [JURIST report] had previously been at public pains to avoid. The next day Blanco shored up her authority over the situation by setting up a state relief fund and calling in former Clinton administration FEMA director James Lee Witt [professional profile] to advise on the state relief effort. Federal officials all the way up to President have suggested that state and local governments were overwhelmed by the scope of the disaster and were slow to respond, but that they themselves could not have moved more quickly because, in the words of Homeland Secutity Secretary Michael Chertoff, "our constitutional system really places the primary authority in each state with the governor." The Post quotes its state source as saying "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," The Washington Post has more.

3:25 PM ET - In an article posted on its website Sunday, Newsweek magazine notes that legal wrangling was also going on within the Bush administration as the situation in New Orleans deteriorated:

President Bush could have "federalized" the National Guard in an instant. That's what his father, President George H.W. Bush, did after the Los Angeles riots in 1992.... But after Katrina, a strange paralysis set in. For days, Bush's top advisers argued over legal niceties about who was in charge, according to three White House officials who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. Beginning early in the week, Justice Department lawyers presented arguments for federalizing the Guard, but Defense Department lawyers fretted about untrained 19-year-olds trying to enforce local laws, according to a senior law-enforcement official who requested anonymity citing the delicate nature of the discussions.

[Jess Kitting]

Bush administration officials sent a draft legal memorandum to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco just before midnight Friday asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans

Which Friday and which evacuation?

(There was an evacuation before the hurricane hit. There is another evacuation going on now.)

[George Smiley]

I'm not sure any more.

There are timelines around- one in Bradenton?

We need to find them and document this stuff because between the floodwaters and the BS, there's gonna be a lot of something that will grow up in the near future.

[George Smiley]

Witt isn't taking over as head of the Louisiana Emergency Management Agency- he's just "running the relief effort", whatever that means.

I suspect that this is advance positioning of the defense's expert witness to enhance his credibility for her upcoming impeachment trial.

[sportutegrl]

I saw the Red Cross on Fox last night confirming that they were not allowed into NOLA because the local government wanted to encourage the Superdome refugees to leave. But I also heard on Fox from Shep and Geraldo that they were not being allowed to leave. I am getting a weird feeling and I hope I am wrong, but it almost looks like either the NO mayor or the Governor wanted to do a little ethnic cleansing. Why else would the mayor not evacuate people who couldn't leave otherwise, and would surely die without intervention? Why put them all in the Superdome, Convention Center, or pile them up on an I-10 off ramp with no food, no water, no security, and no freedom to leave? Why purposely keep food and water away, along with refusing to allow National Guards in to provide security. Why was the NO police "beaten back" when they tried to storm the Convention Center? An unorganized group of hoodlums should be no match for sixty armed and trained officers, if the people in charge really wanted them saved.

[FryingPan101]

"The next day Blanco shored up her authority over the situation by setting up a state relief fund and calling in former Clinton administration FEMA director James Lee Witt".

Exactly. My question is: How long did it take the Clintons to approve a solution to Blank-oh's problem after it seemed obvious the Feds stood at the ready?

[BlueNgold]

Before midnight on Friday night.
Before the evacuation orders were even given.

[sportutegrl]

The Post quotes its state source as saying "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals,"

Despite the absurdity of this apparently contradictory statement, it reveals that the locals refused to take the most prudent course of action for fear of hurting their political careers. It is an indictment.

[Chode]

if Dubya had federalized them, before the ink on the order was dry and with his words still ringing in the air, that fat bloated drunken murder kennedy would of had articles of impeachment drawn up and in the senate!!!

[Fido969]

Blank-o hired Witt on 9/3, who was filling that position before 9/3 during the storm and the first few days of the aftermath?

As I recall, Blankstare hired Witt to coordinate AT THE STATE LEVEL, (it is is a state paid position,) the relief efforts. I don't know who was in charge of coordinating those before, other than the gubbiner herself.

I think Witt contract is no pay for a couple of months, then he get big bux.

[Fido969]

They were totally willing to sacrifice the lives of thosands for political gain.

That is how I think it would shape up if you looked closely at Blankstare's stalling during the week of 8/28-9/3. Either that or spectacular incompetence.

I'd want to know what communications she had with 'rat central.

[meyer]

I'd want to know what communications she had with 'rat central.

I hope that it was recorded somewhere, even if illegally. Let it loose on the 'net from a foreign web site and let the chips fall where they may.

Given Reid's latest legislation proposal that I just saw on Fox, I'm guessing that the whole "Bush failed" scenario was orchestrated by the DNC, at the cost of hundreds if not thousands of lives (of course, those "lives" will still vote democrat in New Orleans). They're desparate and will do anything to win.

[George Smiley]

if Blank-o hired Witt on 9/3, who was filling that position before 9/3 during the storm and the first few days of the aftermath? Was the position vacant or was there an unnamed flunky being protected?

Click the linky part up there.

That LOHSEP website has all sorts of useful stuff...

[George Smiley]

Sorry about that. Click the linky part below. It actually works.

if Blank-o hired Witt on 9/3, who was filling that position before 9/3 during the storm and the first few days of the aftermath? Was the position vacant or was there an unnamed flunky being protected?

Click the linky part up there.

That LOHSEP website has all sorts of useful stuff...

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

The DEMONCRATS have been running La. for over 60 years. It should have been the most perfect state in the union. Why do they have any problems at all?

.....because this is today's Democratic party

[Roccus]

I think roseoftexas nailed it on another thread.



http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1479626/posts?page=93#93

[DallasMike]

Fellow Freepers:

At the suggestion of writer Michelle Malkin last Friday, I have cobbled together a blogsite called Texas Clearinghouse for Katrina Aid to serve as a clearinghouse for refugee efforts in Texas.

Texas is getting more refugees than any other state -- that's fine, we'll take them all -- but we need help providing them with food, clothing, medicine, and shelter. We need help taking care of their pets, too.

If you are a refugee, you can information that will help you find relief. If you want to donate or volunteer, you can find someone who needs you. Believe me, there are a lot of organizations who need your help.

Right now the site mostly covers Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas but I'm adding more every night. My wife was down at Reunion Arena in Dallas Tuesday handing out care packages and spiritually ministering to the refugees as a representative of her employer. She says that the situation is tragic and that there's a lot of work to be done. There are so many children who don't know where their parents are or even if their parents are still alive.

There are a lot of churches and other organizations in Texas that need help in dealing with the problem and I would appreciate it if you would get the word out.

Many thanks,

Michael McCullough

Stingray blogsite