It’s not only the insurance industry that’s making its way into courthouses as we approach the one-year anniversary of Katrina. Remember the escape from New Orleans?:
A grand jury will investigate the blockade of a Mississippi River bridge by armed police officers last year who turned back Hurricane Katrina evacuees trying to flee New Orleans.[...]
Many of the evacuees, who had been stranded at the New Orleans convention center without food and water, said they were told to cross the bridge to be evacuated from the city. But Gretna police confronted them on the bridge and forced them to turn around.
Now, here’s an interesting question: Does a simple, but major, breakdown in communications in the midst of mass confusion constitute criminal behavior, particularly given the horror of the situation? That assumes, of course, that “breakdown in communication” is the explanation — that Gretna police saw a mass of people moving across the bridge unexpectedly, and given the rioting on the other side of the river, feared the worst, rather being aware that those folks were following instructions.