Legal Expert-Blanco was legally in charge of Disaster Relief

Fox News | Sat 9-10-05 | ME

[MNJohnnie]

Just watched a legal expert on Fox go thru the disaster event by event. Based on the Law Gov Blanco is legally liable. If lawsuits are filed, there is no way she can duck it. In addition, when Bush went went down there, he offered her immediate deployment of Reg Army troops, she told both him and Nagel that she "needed 24 hours" to decide. This is DC politics. As everyone from Bush to Clinton to Carter learned, Washington Politics are a whole lot tougher then local politics. Blanco is toast. EVEN if the National Dems get the "Independent Commission" there is no way to rescue her based on the Law. I suspect that is why Mayor Nagel has been so quiet. He found out last Fri just who was holding the knife in his back, and it wasn't Bush

[Labyrinthos]

There is usually immunity for civil servents doing their job, and even in cases of negligence where immunity might not completely apply, I have little doubt Louisiana has some sort of Tort Claims Act that lessens or eliminates liability altogether. That leaves federal civil rights suits, and those won't come close to flying.

I agree 110%. See Post No. 199.

[gitmo]

Thaks, MNJ. I've been trying to pin the date down on that. (Do you have a reference on that date?)

Katrina hit Monday. On the 3rd or 4th day after that she requested assistance.

Nagin singled out Gov. Kathleen Blanco for criticism, saying that the governor had asked for 24 hours to think over a decision when time was a luxury that no one, especially refugees, had.

“When the president and the governor got here, I said, 'Mr. President, Madame Governor, you two have to get in synch. If you don't, more people are going to die.” Blanco and Bush met privately at his insistence, Nagin said, after which Bush came out and told Nagin that he had given Blanco two options, and she requested a full day to decide.

When did this incident happen?

[infocats]

Very abbreviated CFR TITLE 44

[WHBates]

"You have to do better than that. I get the feeling that you are just making it up.

LOL, what gave you that idea. /sarc

[Wolfstar]

I think the difference is that Nagin was just incompetent (not a rare thing among pols) and Blanco was unabashedly obstructionist. It's one thing to be too dumb to know what to do and another to wilfully refuse to do what you are supposed to do.

Any Louisiana state and local official who was too corrupt to do his or her job properly is criminally negligent in this disaster, in my opinion. In addition to Blanco and Nagin, the list includes the NO police chief, the NO city council, the Orleans Parish board of supervisors (or whatever they're called), the Louisiana legislature, the Board of Levees (or whatever it's actual title), and the head of the parish (county-level) PD.

[Ciexyz]

Impeachment hearings should commence immediately.

[MNJohnnie]

What I have tried to point out, however ineffectively, that under federal law, FEMA's first responsibility was to act BEFORE the FACT in ensuring, to the extent possible, that a tragedy such as this didn't happen in the first instance.

Which they did. Both the City of NO and the State of LA got billions of dollars to prepare plans and equip 1st responders. This particular disaster is one that FEMA, the City of NO and the State of LA HAD gamed out after 9-11. You CAN read the facts if you bother to actually READ a few of the hundred of posts on the topic giving you links to dozens of sources rather then refuse to accept anything that does NOT conform to your preconceived FEELINGS.

And as the post which you ARE supposedly responding to RIGHT now pointed OUT, if you had read it, they DID have prepositioned assets THERE. The press release is pointing out that the PREPOSITIONED assets are NOT to go cowboying around on their own but wait for orders from STATE and Local authorities. So your claim that FEMA was NOT "prepositioned" is proven false in the VERY press release I sent you!

[gitmo]

That's part of the ongoing role of the USCG. I'll bet the Marines, Navy, and USAF jumped the gun. Again, the assumption generally is that the state requests help immediately. Alabama and Mississippi did.

A place where the Feds exceeded their authority is using the National Guard to enforce the peace. It is strictly forbidden to use Federal Troops as law enforcement within the country.

[GoLightly]

Then why would use of the school buses be written into the emergency evacuation plan if they could not be used?

Nagin could legally commandeer the buses & any other property, even if it was privately owned. I'd have to think anything he's legally allowed to do would be addressed in either a state or city insurance policy, unless they self insure it. But, Nagin could only commandeer them to shuffle people around within his parish.

Blanco could have & should have commandeered the buses, cuz she also had that authority.

[gitmo]

Hear Hear!

[Wolfstar]

...enough Louisiana voters saw Bobby Jindal and decided he wasn't white enough for the job.

Or maybe not black enough. Dark skin, but not "African-American," and -- horrors! -- a Republican. You know, that (D) after a pol's name is ALL to "real" black folk.

[MNJohnnie]

Very abbreviated CFR TITLE 44

Sorry just posting a link to a whole Law and then claiming your own OPINONS are "Verified" by that Law is NOT responding. It is intellectually dishonest. Please respond to the following questions. Provide a citation refering to a particualr page number and section IN the CFR to back up your contentions.

Freedom, I have to go mow my yard that thinks it is the rain forest. To anything that Info posts that continues to merely repost the incorrect analysis Info is placing on CFR, please respond by reposting the questions below and asking Info to ANSWER the questions.

I am going to bring this to your attention since their seems a unwillingness to ACTUALLY report the facts. There is all this blame being spun by supposed "Objective" Journalists at President Bush. Apparently the "News" media does not understand at all how the lines of authority work in this situation. President Bush is prevented by Federal Law, the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, form sending in the military to restore order. President Bush CANNOT send in the National Guard. HE has NO authority over it unless it is called to Federal Service THEN as part of the regular Army, he CANNOT deploy it in a domestic law enforcement role unless one of two things happen. The Governor of the Sate ASKS for it or the State Govt is in defiance of Federal Authority. In 1956 Eisenhower deployed US troops to Little Rock AR to end a State Govt open defiance of a Supreme Court ruling on Segregation. In New Orleans the Governor of Louisiana has STILL not asked for Regular Army troops or Marine. SHE has finally ordeedr a grand total of 300, THREE HUNDRED Armed National Guard troops to restore order. She, Governor Blanco, NOT President Bush has the authority to order in the Guard, ask other states to send Guards or ask the President for Regular troops. There is all this screaming "why is it taking so long, why does Bush DO something". He is. Exactly what the Fed do. Moving the resources in for all over the USA to help with the recover. The LOCAL and State authorities, the one SCREAMING loudest about Bush, are the REAL culprits here. They have been given BILLIONS in Federal Aid since 9-11 to prepare their 1st responders and develop their crises contingency plans. Plans that were suppose to address this VERY disaster. It is the city and State's responsibility to manage the saturation from the point of disaster until the Feds get there in about 72 hours. There IS a reason we have State and Local goverments you know. So what real objective journalists SHOULD be asking is "why did the City of New Orleans and the State of Lousiana performed so poorly? Why did they not follow their OWN disaster plan as published on the Citie's website. Why are all the Public Transit assets of the City of New Orleans sitting under water in neat tidy little rows instead of being used to evacuate the poor and disabled? I suspect if anyone ACTUALLY has the courage to do their journalistic JOB, they are NOT going to like what they find lurking under the surface. Just because the people at the local and state level have the politically correct Democrat party label is NO excuse for the "news medias" role in helping covering up the malfeasance that cost THOUSAND of New Orleans citizens their lives

[infocats]

"So your claim that FEMA was NOT "prepositioned" is proven false"

I never claimed that FEMA wasn't prepositioned or that they didn't provide adequate funding. What I have consistently maintained is that they didn't utilize due diligence in their oversignt obligation in ensuring that the provided resources were used for the purposes intended, and that an effective ongoing program of checking and testing the capabilites of local officials to respond to this type of disaster was in place. The results are the results and clearly speak for themselves.

Additionally, FEMA had the authority to partner with the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild the levees to withstand a category 5 hurricane. This is not a new problem...and has been studied and restudied for decades.

[MNJohnnie]

Blanco could have & should have commandeered the buses, cuz she also had that authority.

' They do NOT have to "Commandeer" what the City of NO all ready owed.

[FreedomCalls]

Very abbreviated CFR TITLE 44

You are still citing the WHOLE VOLUME! Is there anything in it to back up your assertions or not? I can't find it. Where is it? Show me.

[WHBates]

"Which they did. Both the City of NO and the State of LA got billions of dollars to prepare plans and equip 1st responders.

That is why Congress will probably appoint a blue ribbon commission to white wash this entire thing (blame someone like Brown). Why? Because 100's of billion went to all of the states for this purpose and was ladened with all kinds of pork. Congress really doesn't want the people to find out that much of this money was probably wasted.

However, based on how Florida performed last year I would guess they put their money to good use. I live in SC and I'm going to make it my business to find out what we did with the money given to SC.

[WHBates]

"Additionally, FEMA had the authority to partner with the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild the levees to withstand a category 5 hurricane. This is not a new problem...and has been studied and restudied for decades.

Where do you get this stuff. That is just plain false. DHS, FEMA can't spend money Congress doesn't authorize. Please provide so proof that FEMA and/or the Corp has the authority to spend money on whatever they want.

[GoLightly]

The city government didn't/doesn't own the school buses. Those are/were owned by the city's schools, which fall under another governing authority within the city. School systems are governed by school boards & school boards are given separate taxing authority from the cities they are in.

I'd bet the municipal bus fleet is/was owned by the city & it would have been unnecessary for anyone to commandeer them, as they would have been at the Mayor's disposal.

[MNJohnnie]

I'd bet the municipal bus fleet is/was owned by the city & it would have been unnecessary for anyone to commandeer them, as they would have been at the Mayor's disposal.

That must be what the City of NO Plan means by City Assets would be used to evacuate anyone unable to evacuate themselves. My mistake for ASSUMING it meant School buses. I did see a post where a Freeper linked to the, I think LA Dept of Education that listed something like 5,000+ buses OWNED by the Parrishes in and arround NO as well as another 8000+ that were owned by private contractors.

[Graymatter]

Yes, she (Landrieu) is in charge of raiding the federal cookie jar. They see an opportunity here and they could rake in BILLIONS. The environmental cleanup, the demolition and reconstruction of so much of New Orleans, the new developments commercial and residential...it's mind-boggling how much money they can skim from the regeneration of one of America's greatest cities.
They're not emptying the city because of public health concerns. They want no witnesses to the arson and destruction of targeted properties.