NEWS: Survive Katrina Now you go to Jail!

Brian Murphy was evacuated from New Orleans after Katrina hit. He along with more than 100 people were flown up to Rhode Island and were met by the govenor of RI and a cheering crowd. Then once Murphy was out of the lime light, he was handcuffed and taken away.
State Police performed criminal background checks on the evacuees and discovered over 1/3rd had a criminal history Murphy had an outstanding warrant.
Rhode Island is not the only state that has been doing this. All around the country, state and local police departments have discovered that over 50% of the evacuees have a criminal record.



The police departments are probably going to be chastised for this. I mean these people have been through a lot. Now though, the police are having to not only take in the evacuees and assist them, but remember the police still have to protect the citizens. What I find interesting is that right after the hurricane, it was reported that the goverment was not going to perform this type of checks, at least when it invovled possible illegal immigransts. See the link below for more for on that angle

Related News Links:
www.cbsnews.com

To add to the post on how serious the goverment is taking this issue:
Sex offenders who fled Katrina are tough to track

As many as 4,500 sex offenders are among tens of thousands of people evacuated by Hurricane Katrina, prison officials say, worsening what critics call an already patchy national database on sexual crimes.
Louisiana State Police say 3,300 to 4,500 sex offenders lived in areas swamped by Katrina. Of those, about 270 usually check in at parole offices in five districts shut by Katrina and are considered at higher risk of repeating their crimes.
From Texas to Massachusetts, authorities have struggled to identify sex offenders among evacuees -- with varying success. And Hurricane Rita, steaming through the Gulf of Mexico toward the Texas coast and western Louisiana, makes that task harder by delaying the reopening of New Orleans.

This is an issue that they need to take very seriously in my book!

I see no problem with this. I wouldn't have a problem with having a background check done on me if I was evacuated.

I agree with the background checks 100%. It wouldn't bother me one bit if illegal aliens were turned over to INS either. How would you like to volunteer to take in a refugee fron Katrina and then find out too late that he was a sex offender. I do have a problem if someone has served their sentence and is denied help just because of their past record. The man mentioned in the artical has an outstanding warrant and would have been arrested at a traffic stop or checkpoint even without the hurricane. I don't recall blanket pardons being issued to Kitrina survivors.

Yep, for criminals and sex offenders, this is absolutely necessary.

However, I also agree with the immunity that is imposed upon illegal aliens. We cannot discourage illegal aliens from seeking safety by instilling fear of deportation into them - that is absolutely wrong and un-American.

Zip

Don't break the law.... bottom line...

Stay out of trouble and you have nothing to worry about.




as far as the "hurricane victims" that are going to be deported...

see ya !!!

In another thread about Katrina I mentioned the fear of arrest as one reason why many people probably didn't go to shelters or get themselves evacuated by the authorities. Seems my theory was correct. The numbers don't surprise me at all. I do like the fine state of LA not bothering to extradite the criminals who've been arrested. Why take them back? So they can be another expense at Angola?

Well, if memory serves me correctly, La actually released a number of inmates cautioning them that if they broke the law again, they (the inmates) would be jailed for a very long time.
In other words, La did this on purpose. They could have taken steps to transport inmates to holding facilities outside the danger zone, instead.... hey let's just let them go!

Originally posted by kenshiro2012
The police departments are probably going to be chastised for this.

For what putting people with warrents in jail

For what putting people with warrents in jail

well public sentimate is as I noted, that these refugees have been through heck and that they (the refugees) should just be helped in anyway possible.

There were news bites warning people who were opening their homes to refugees that the refugees may commit crimes etc in their homes. These news bites were fairly quickly supressed. Also remember reports of crime rates rising in some of the areas which the refugees went.

I am of the thought that the people with records should go to jail, straight to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200

Originally posted by elevatedone
Don't break the law.... bottom line...

Stay out of trouble and you have nothing to worry about.

Problem with this is that the laws keep changing constantly depending on the court that is interpreting them. We used to be a society that depended on the word of the law, now our law is based on precedents. Try this. Go to a City, State or Federal Government website and look for the exact texts of laws. You either won't find them or you will find them with a disclaimer that they are not responsible for the content and you should consult a legal professional. Playboy had an article a few years ago that was titled "Land of the Free?". The article stated that the average American by the time they are thirty has comitted at least two offenses for which they could be jailed. If you are old enough to have had a Civics class you will remember the saying that "Ignorence of the law is no excuse". In the past a citizen had the obligation to know the law, today the law is so conveluted that even legal professionals don't know it. Something that has been legal for years can suddenly be illegal and the authorities are under no obligation to inform us. So to the statement"Stay out of trouble any you have nothing to worry about", I say define trouble and I'll stay out of it.

well public sentimate is as I noted, that these refugees have been through heck and that they (the refugees) should just be helped in anyway possible.

Sorry, but being a "victim" (especially a voluntary one, as the evacuation was mandatory), does not equate to an automatic pardon... Lock up the perps, and deport the illegals...and I won't shed one frickin' tear....

I'll save my sympathy for those truly victimized by this, like children who had no choice, the elderly, patients, animals, etc.

Gazrok
We are definately on the same page on this.
I was referencing what the media has been spewing and not my own feelings.

Originally posted by kenshiro2012
To add to the post on how serious the goverment is taking this issue:
Sex offenders who fled Katrina are tough to track

As many as 4,500 sex offenders are among tens of thousands of people evacuated by Hurricane Katrina, prison officials say, worsening what critics call an already patchy national database on sexual crimes.
Louisiana State Police say 3,300 to 4,500 sex offenders lived in areas swamped by Katrina. Of those, about 270 usually check in at parole offices in five districts shut by Katrina and are considered at higher risk of repeating their crimes.
From Texas to Massachusetts, authorities have struggled to identify sex offenders among evacuees -- with varying success. And Hurricane Rita, steaming through the Gulf of Mexico toward the Texas coast and western Louisiana, makes that task harder by delaying the reopening of New Orleans.

This is an issue that they need to take very seriously in my book!

Granted some of these people do need to be found but why does this topic always come up when a disaster happens. What about the murders on parole?

I would worry more about getting the deases left behind from the death of human and animal remains and the toxic waste that has been permeating the New Orleans area for the past 2 weeks or so, out and then worry about getting the crimials.

Here in Dallas,Texas we have caught almost 5 S.O. and another 200 have reported into there parol officers that are local in the shelters.

This story is really sad that these people have been through a really really tough time. I would almost give up if I was one of those people.
Truely amazing when there is something that is taking human lives like Katrina and the possiblity of Rita doing the same and all people can think about are what about the S.O.er's? That is sad.
What about the 1.5 million people in the Houston area I would rather get them out of harms way then having to go through a back ground check and then have the state take them away. I have family down there and I know all they cared about was to GET OUT NOW. They didn't care about who was beside them. If you live in that kind of a parnod world, you in bad shape.

Actually Texmiller,
I brought up the fact that La released a number of inmates as Katrina hit.
Yes I know about the So's in Dallas, I live there

Originally posted by kenshiro2012
I am of the thought that the people with records should go to jail, straight to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200

Wait...people with a 'Crimianl Record' should go straight to jail?

Spend a long moment thinking about that...

If you have a crimianl record the Court must have decided you are guilty [Jury/Magistrate] or you must have said you were guilty and in turn served your time.

Many people have criminals records, but they will have all been through the legal system already otherwise they have no record and are wanted on suspicion of a crime.

So really do you want all those who have yet to be found guilty locked up?
Or do you want all those who commit a crime put in prison for life? [No matter the crime].

got me there odium, should have qualified that with Open criminal records. the ones that are still "wanted" and not the ones (except for sex offenders- I have no sympathy for them) that have pais their debt to society

Originally posted by kenshiro2012
Actually Texmiller,
I brought up the fact that La released a number of inmates as Katrina hit.
Yes I know about the So's in Dallas, I live there

Well, actually I did some research and there is nothing in the media or on yahoo, google, MSN search that says that there were a "number of inmates released before Katrina hit."

The only thing that is showing is that the New Orleans sheriffs got all the inmates out of thier cells and then issued them across the toxic water and put them on overpass waiting for transportation to the next federal pen.

I highly dought that the Federal government and local police would do such a thing.

I am surprised by how many people here equate illegal aliens with wanted criminals. You would rather that a father have his family duke it out with the storm and die than get on a bus to find relief? Now is not the time to frighten illegal aliens into taking chances that may kill them and their families just because they don't have a legal residency status. They will remain illegal aliens well after the hurricaines, and we can deal with them at that point.



Zip

Originally posted by Zipdot
I am surprised by how many people here equate illegal aliens with wanted criminals. You would rather that a father have his family duke it out with the storm and die than get on a bus to find relief? Now is not the time to frighten illegal aliens into taking chances that may kill them and their families just because they don't have a legal residency status. They will remain illegal aliens well after the hurricaines, and we can deal with them at that point.

Zip

Wait a min.......... THERE ARE ILLIGAL ALIENS IN TEXAS....... NO WAY... NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!