Disaster Law Commons^™

Crimes On The Gulf, David M. Uhlmann

Articles

The explosion that rocked the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, 2010, killed 11 workers and triggered the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. After six weeks of failed efforts to stop the gushing oil and protect the fragile ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico and the communities along its shores, President Obama pledged on June 1 that “if our laws were broken . . . we will bring those responsible to justice.”

Katrina, Federalism, And Military Law Enforcement: A New Exception To The Posse Comitatus Act, Sean Mcgrane

Michigan Law Review

In the days following Hurricane Katrina, as lawlessness and violence spread throughout New Orleans, the White House considered invoking the Insurrection Act so that members of the U.S. military could legally perform law enforcement functions inside the flooded city. This Note contends that the White House's decision not to invoke the Act was substantially driven by federalism concerns-in particular, concerns about intruding on Louisiana's sovereignty. But, this Note further contends, in focusing so heavily on these state sovereignty concerns, the White House largely ignored the other side of the 'federalism coin "-namely, enabling the federal government to act where national …

Is Environmental Law A Barrier To Emerging Alternative Energy Sources, Amy J. Wildermuth

Articles

My aim in this article is to explore the environmental law-energy divide from the environmental law perspective. In doing so, I will examine the impact of environmental law on energy use and energy sources today, focusing particularly on the development of alternative energy. Professor Lincoln Davies has taken up the same task---exploring the environmental law-energy divide-but from the perspective of energy law. Our collective goal is to inspire a discussion about how energy law and environmental law interact and what that means for energy development and use. We also hope to provide some ideas, based on lessons from alternative energy …

An Insurrection Act For The 21st Century, Thaddeus A. Hoffmeister

School of Law Faculty Publications

As the Hurricane Katrina relief effort illustrates, both Governor Blanco and President Bush, like previous elected officials before them, struggled to properly and promptly deploy federal troops during a domestic emergency. This shortcoming was due to problems associated with: (1) interpreting the Insurrection Act; (2) federalism; and (3) public opinion. This article, divided into four parts, attempts to resolve those problems, or at least decrease the likelihood of their recurrence, by offering suggestive changes to the Insurrection Act. Part II provides a general overview of the Insurrection Act. It begins with a brief discussion of two early episodes of civil …

The Role Of The Federal Government In Response To Catastrophic Health Emergencies: Lessons Learned From Hurricane Katrina, Michael Greenberger

Michael Greenberger

In much of the recent thought devoted to the role of states in responding to catastrophic public health emergencies, as most clearly evidenced by the commentary surrounding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- sponsored Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (Model Act), there is a focus on state governments being viewed as the exclusive controlling governmental agent supervising the governmental response. Much of that thinking is premised on a view of limitations placed on Congress’ power to act in public health emergencies emanating from Commerce Clause restrictions in the Supreme Court decisions of U.S. v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 …

Returning To New Orleans: Reflections On The Post-Katrina Recovery, Disaster Relief, And The Struggle For Social Justice, Susan L. Waysdorf

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor-In-Chief, John Brian White

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Tale Of Two Cities: Lessons Learned From New Orleans To The District Of Columbia For The Protection Of Vulnerable Populations From The Consequences Of Disaster, Laurie A. Morin

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Like Paris before the French Revolution, New Orleans is a city of extremes. Visitors from around the world visit "the Big Easy" to sip chicory coffee and eat beignets in the French Quarter, listen to some of the country's best music at the jazz festival, and join one of the world's most famous parties during Mardi Gras. When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005, it exposed the soft underbelly of New Orleans-the other side of the city where thousands of people, mostly African Americans, live in pockets of concentrated poverty unable to escape the consequences of decades of …

Priam's Lament: The Intersection Of Law And Morality In The Right To Burial And Its Need For Recognition In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Sarah Tomkins

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Priam's lament might resound with those of us who saw certain images after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans three short years ago: bodies of beloved mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers dangling from house rafters and left to rot on street corners and in basements for months. The remaining unidentified victims were interred last summer at a new memorial, after spending the three years since Hurricane Katrina in a storage facility.3 How could this happen? In America, we might not expect the intercession of gods, but we do expect our government to set reasonable limits on human suffering. Were there just …

Reconstructing The Responsibility To Protect In The Wake Of Cyclones And Separatism, Jarrod Wong

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

This Article reconceptualizes the doctrine of the responsibility to protect (R2P). R2P provides that when a government fails to protect its citizens from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing or crimes against humanity (“mass atrocities”), that responsibility shifts to the international community acting through the United Nations.

The U.N.'s apparent failure to include natural disasters in the catalogue of harms potentially justifying R2P intervention generated considerable controversy following Myanmar's refusal of foreign aid following the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis. Those seeking to limit the scope of R2P considered it inapplicable in the case of Myanmar, reading the U.N.'s focus on …

Internal Displacement, The Guiding Principles On Internal Displacement, The Principles Normative Status, And The Need For Their Effective Domestic Implementation In Colombia, Robert K. Goldman

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Lessons From Hurricane Katrina: Prison Emergency Preparedness As A Constitutional Imperative, Ira P. Robbins

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst natural disasters ever to strike the United States, in terms of casualties, suffering, and financial cost. Often overlooked among Katrina s victims are the 8,000 inmates who were incarcerated at Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) when Katrina struck. Despite a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, these men and women, some of whom had been held on charges as insignificant as public intoxication, remained in the jail as the hurricane hit, and endured days of rising, toxic waters, a lack of food and drinking water, and a complete breakdown of order within OPP Wien the …

Mitigating Disaster: A Communitarian Response, Robert M. Ackerman

Law Faculty Research Publications

In this essay, I present a communitarian view as to how we might best respond to disaster, and in particular, to losses suffered by the direct victims of disaster. My focus will be on financial compensation to disaster victims, which admittedly occupies only a small part of the spectrum of disaster response. Emergency "first responder" activities are matters about which I have no expertise; volunteering at my local food bank hardly qualifies me to advise FEMA or the Red Cross. The blunders for which these organizations have recently been responsible are apparent, and so are some of their causes, but …

N.O. Schools Or No Schools?: Absolute Deprivation Of Educational Opportunity In Post-Katrina New Orleans As A Violation Of A Fundamental Right, Cheryl S. Bratt

Cheryl S. Bratt

Emergency Federalism: Calling On The States In Perilous Times, Adam M. Giuliano

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The attacks of September 11 prompted a historic debate concerning terrorism and domestic emergency response. This ongoing dialogue has driven policy decisions touching upon both liberty and security concerns. Yet despite the enormous effort that has gone into the national response, the role of the sovereign states, and with it federalism, has received comparatively little attention. This Article explores the relevance of federalism within the context of the "War on Terror" and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Acknowledging that theories of federalism developed elsewhere are insufficient, he outlines a doctrine of 'emergency federalism.' The author argues that the Framers …

Law In The Time Of Cholera: Disease, State Power, And Quarantine Past And Future, Felice J. Batlan

Felice J Batlan

Fast Food: Regulating Emergency Food Aid In Sudden-Impact Disasters, David Fisher

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A rich and varied literature has grown up around food aid,' in particular with regard to its use as a development tool, in response to slow-onset disasters (such as droughts and desertification), and in armed conflicts. Given that these applications make up the bulk of the millions of tons of food aid recorded annually and present some of the thorniest operational issues, perhaps it is not surprising that the regulation of food aid provided in sudden-impact disasters (such as earthquakes, tsunamis, wind storms, and floods) has not been as thoroughly examined.

Still, while the amount of food involved is comparatively …

Command Of The Commons Boasts: An Invitation To Lawfare?, Craig H. Allen

Articles

The first panel in this, the 2006 Naval War College, International Law Department conference on "Global Legal Challenges: Command of the Commons, Strategic Communications, and Natural Disasters," has been asked to offer a US perspective on current assertions regarding the US command of the commons. It is my privilege to moderate the discussion by a distinguished panel that includes Vice Admiral Lowell E. ("Jake") Jacoby, US Navy (retired) the immediate past director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; Vice Admiral John G. Morgan, Jr., US Navy, deputy chief of naval operations for plans and strategy (N3/N5); and Rear Admiral Joseph L. …

Disaster Mitigation Through Land Use Strategies, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The persistent question this book raises is who should decide whether and how to mitigate the damages caused by natural disasters. Our understandable preoccupation with response, recovery, and rebuilding makes it hard to focus on this question as a central, even relevant, one. But it persists, nonetheless. The high-profile “blame game” played following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the Gulf Coast is emblematic. In pointing fingers first at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), then at the city of New Orleans, and then at the state of Louisiana, public officials exhibited an appalling lack of understanding of the roles that each …

A Domestic Right Of Return: Race, Rights, And Residency In New Orleans In The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina, Lolita Buckner Inniss

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article begins with a critical account of what occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This critique serves as the backdrop for a discussion of whether there are international laws or norms that give poor, black Katrina victims the right to return to and resettle in New Orleans. In framing this discussion, this article first briefly explores some of the housing deprivations suffered by Katrina survivors that have led to widespread displacement and dispossession. The article then discusses two of the chief barriers to the return of poor blacks to New Orleans: the broad perception of a race-crime nexus …

Doing Katrina Time, Pamela R. Metzger

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This Article explores one Katrina-law problem: the plight of the poor, unrepresented and uncharged prisoners. It attempts to explain why these detainees were unrepresented and abandoned and how we might better guarantee the quality of justice for future detainees. Katrina has proved that bright-line rules are the best lines of defense for the poor; criminal justice systems honor concrete rules more readily than abstract imperatives. Katrina also proved that good lawyering on behalf of poor people can bring joy in the midst of despair.

Natural Disaster Risks: An Introduction, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

An introduction to a special issue of the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty dealing with the implications of catastrophic events for research on risk and uncertainty. What are the consequences of natural disasters? How do individuals and firms respond to such disasters? How do insurers respond, and how should the government respond? Several of these papers will have a strong normative component as they will suggest what actions individuals, firms, and the government should take in anticipation of natural disasters.

National Survey Evidence On Disasters And Relief: Risk Beliefs, Self-Interest, And Compassion, W. Kip Viscusi, Richard J. Zeckhauser

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

A nationally representative sample of respondents estimated their fatality risks from four types of natural disasters, and indicated whether they favored governmental disaster relief. For all hazards, including auto accident risks, most respondents assessed their risks as being below average, with one-third assessing them as average. Individuals from high-risk states, or with experience with disasters, estimate risks higher, though by less than reasonable calculations require. Four-fifths of our respondents favor government relief for disaster victims, but only one-third do for victims in high-risk areas. Individuals who perceive themselves at higher risk are more supportive of government assistance.

Risk Management In The Wake Of Hurricane Katrina: Hospital Liability Associated With The Use Of Volunteer Health Professionals During Emergencies, James G. Hodge Jr., Stephanie H. Cálves, Lance A. Gable, Elizabeth Meltzer, Sara Kraner

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Beatrice B. Mcwaters Et. Al. V. Federal Emergency Management Agency, Et. Al., John C. Brittain

Court Briefs

No abstract provided.

Offering Hope To Post-Katrina Communities, Amee Patel

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

The Role Of The Federal Government In Response To Catastrophic Health Emergencies: Lessons Learned From Hurricane Katrina, Michael Greenberger

Faculty Scholarship

In much of the recent thought devoted to the role of states in responding to catastrophic public health emergencies, as most clearly evidenced by the commentary surrounding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- sponsored Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (Model Act), there is a focus on state governments being viewed as the exclusive controlling governmental agent supervising the governmental response. Much of that thinking is premised on a view of limitations placed on Congress’ power to act in public health emergencies emanating from Commerce Clause restrictions in the Supreme Court decisions of U.S. v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 …

Mandatory Fire Sprinklers: Balancing Home And Workplace Safety, Eileen D. Collins

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Bringing In The State: Toward A Constitutional Duty To Protect From Mob Violence, Susan S. Kuo

Faculty Publications

Mob violence can inflict devastating costs. Although typically wrought by private individuals, the incidence of riot as well as extent of riot harm often turn on the adequacy of police preparation and planning. Under the English common law, local governments were responsible for providing riot protection for their denizens. In keeping with the English tradition, early state laws in the United States also provided for communal riot responsibility, and when the states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, state obligations in the riot context were well-established. Despite the common law underpinnings of the governmental duty to protect citizens from mob violence, however, …

Disasters First: Rethinking Environmental Law After September 11, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

Many environmental statutes were enacted, or at least spurred along, in direct response to disasters. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 followed from the Santa Barbara Oil Spill; the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) resulted from the chemical gas disaster in Bhopal, India; the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) was sparked by the Love Canal incident; and the Oil Pollution Acte was a reaction to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have led to the Homeland Security Act and to several other enactments. The collapse of the …