A Call to Arms: Civil Disorder following Hurricane Katrina Warrants Attack on the Posse Comitatus Act
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A CALL TO ARMS: CIVIL DISORDER FOLLOWING
HURRICANE KATRINA WARRANTS ATTACK ON THE
POSSE COMITATUS ACT
Ashley J. Craw
INTRODUCTION
For weeks, the country watched as one of the largest natural disasters
in United States history swept through the Gulf region, flattening and
flooding the coastlines of Louisiana and Mississippi. On August 29, 2005,
Hurricane Katrina struck land,' causing approximately 1.1 million families
to be displaced and an estimated $100 billion in cleanup and repairs.2 For
many Americans, the widespread crime and looting that engulfed the region
in the days following Katrina proved to be more shocking than the flooded
streets, ravaged coastlines, and leveled homes in Louisiana and Mississippi.
In one widely disseminated scene, New Orleans police officers were ac-
cused of looting boarded up stores and stealing new automobiles from a
local dealership.' In another, two New Orleans police officers were dis-
missed for brutally beating a man in the French Quarter of New Orleans.4
These shocking media images begged many to question the current
state of natural disaster response law in the United States. Why did crime
and looting in a major U.S. city proliferate so expeditiously?5 Why did it
take state and local law enforcement almost a week to quell the civil un-
rest?6 Why did the federal government play such a minimal role in helping
* George Mason University School of Law, Juris Doctor Candidate, May 2008; Managing Editor,
GEORGE MASON LAW REVIEW, 2006-2007; George Mason University, B.A., Communication, B.A.I.S.,
Conflict Resolution, May 2004. Many thanks to Professor Joseph Zengerle for his mentorship during
the writing of this Comment and afterwards and to my husband, Nikolaus Keapproth, and my parents,
John and Kim J. Craw, for their unwavering support.
I THE WORLD ALMANAC AND BOOK OF FACTS 2007, at 302 (2007) [hereinafter WORLD
ALMANAC].
2 Evacuation of Hurricane--Struck U.S. City of New Orleans Nears Completion; Death Toll,
Cost Estimates Grow; US. President Bush Faces Sharp Criticism, FACTS ON FILE WORLD NEWS DIG.,
Sept. 8, 2005, at 597A 1 [hereinafter Evacuation of Hurricane].
3 American Morning (CNN television broadcast Dec. 27, 2005) (Westlaw, Transcript No.
122707CN.V74), available at 2005 WLNR 21009003.
4 Id.
5 See Charles M. Madigan, The Tempest Revealed, CHICAGO TRIB., Sept. 11, 2005, at 1.
6 Id.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/gmlr14&div=29&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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A Call to Arms: Civil Disorder following Hurricane Katrina Warrants Attack on the Posse Comitatus Act
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