[George from New England]

Idiots.

The legal system should be based on intelligence. Not more of this ineptitude.

[Thud]

This is correct. Furthermore Governor Blanco's failure to declare martial law means that the accused must be freed for failure to bring them to a speedy trial.

She's the gift that keeps on giving.

[JimRed]

Will the innocent not be able to prove their innocence?"

The innocent do not have to prove anything.

[Dog Gone]

I find it hard to believe that New Orleans area courthouses actually had basements.

[Lunkhead_01]

I am less worried about the criminals being released because of the destruction of evidence and records than I am of the escape from New Orleans of the mentally deranged led by Ray Nagin.

[Recovering Hermit]

Two words that these idiots should learn...electronic format.

Oh, and one more...backup.

[stylin19a]

well, evidence can be a lot of things....drugs etc... that could be lost in a flood.

[TheSpottedOwl]

That figures. I wonder if the records that FEMA wanted to investigate back in March, are floating around in some basement?

[Pessimist]

There are probably going to be a lot of interesting situations like this coming down the pike.

One I'm wondering about is this: What happens if you are a councilman (or parish president or whatever they call them there) and you're up for re-election this fall. Let's say your parish is still evacuated, etc...

Are you out of a job? Do they just not hold an election but you stay on anyway? Do the people vote in absentia?

Anybody know how that works?

[ArtyFO]

Not only criminals, but registered sex offenders 1350 that were in NO are scattered all over the country and are now unregistered.

[oldbrowser]

I imagine a multitude of sins (well the records anyway) will be washed away by this hurricane.

How convenient.

[stocksthatgoup]

give the y2k preparations one would think there are backup copies of this information held at a secure site.

[Mulder]

The release of 1000 defendants charged with crimes is better than a single man being deprived of his Rights. Be it having his guns confiscated by the Nazis or being deprived of his Right to a fair and speedy trials.

I don't fear the street criminal.

What I fear are the criminals in uniform using our tax dollars to go door-to-door confiscating guns.

[weegee]

The Big Easy will descend into anarchy. Between the corrupt politicians and cops who largely won't be punished and the looters, rapists, and murderers who's transgressions after the flood will be overlooked, how could anyone already on the docket be considered "guilty"?

[Enterprise]

There are Constitutional time constraints on keeping people in custody. Simply because of that, people may have to be released. And some may never be tried, for several reasons.

1. The original arresting officer might be deceased.

2. The victim might be deceased or relocated, and authorities might have trouble contacting the victim.

3. The paperwork might be lost or damaged beyond recovery.

4. Physical evidence might be lost or damaged beyond admissability in court.