ACLU Sues New Orleans Prison for Katrina Inmate Abuse
Posted on Sun Nov 20, 2005 at 10:26:26 AM EST
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Via Halcyon at Daily Kos: The ACLU has sued a New Orleans parish prison for locking up 45 inmates without food or water during Katrina. The suit also alleges abuse by prison guards during this period.
Some prisoners claim that deputies forced them into their cells by shooting bean bags, macing and tasering them; once they were returned to their cells, some deputies handcuffed the cell doors to prevent them from escaping. As the locked cells began to flood, prisoners hung signs out of the broken windows for help, and others jumped into the water below. According to the testimonials, deputies and members of the Special Investigation Division shot at some of the prisoners who were attempting to escape the rising water inside the jail, and several prisoners report that they witnessed fellow prisoners getting shot in the back.
When the prisoners were finally evacuated from the jail, many were forced to wade through toxic, waste-filled water to the Broad Street overpass on Interstate 10. Prisoners reported that the armed guards at the overpass had K-9 dogs, which were used to threaten them. Several prisoners said that the dogs bit other prisoners. Many of the prisoners on the overpass said they were maced and beaten, some for nothing more than sitting next to a fellow prisoner who attempted to stand and stretch after being forced to sit on the pavement for hours. Other prisoners recount being maced and beaten for requesting food and water. Female prisoners also report that deputies directed degrading and sexually offensive comments at them.
The prisoners' testimonials are here. (pdf)
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