Getting Away With Murder

The federal government is not going to be held liable in at least two of the hundreds of deaths resulting from their failure to respond to the crisis following Hurricane Katrina. Their public apology for the “errors” that were made after Katrina made landfall are little comfort for victims’ families who are seeking justice for the death of their loved ones.

If it’s not the government’s fault that their inaction left 91-year-old Ethel Mayo Freeman to die in the sweltering heat outside of the convention center in New Orleans, then whose fault is it?
Who will be held accountable for these and other untimely deaths? It’s time the government is held responsible for the way they ignored the poor, Black residents of New Orleans whose lives were devastated by the hurricanes.

In the wrongful death suit brought by Freeman’s son, the judge wrote in his decision: “one can only speculate at this point whether these mistakes caused the tragic deaths of the decedents.”

The word “mistakes” implies that the government’s actions were beyond their control. But, the government had the capacity to aid survivors but instead left people stranded for days without food or water. They were left to die. Deliberate inaction is as egregious as willful action.