NEWS: Martial Law Declared in New Orleans

Originally posted by Dr Love
Maybe someone can explain to me how they've declared martial law and at the same time they're telling everyone to get the hell out of dodge.

Peace

www.findlaw.com...

After clicking the above link, scroll to U.S. Code, click on that...scroll down, to U.S. Code, click on that...type in first box: 42, type in second box: 5121 (to 5206), or 42 United States Code (U.S.C.) 5121. Read the entire section by clicking on "next" at the bottom of each page, up until 42 U.S.C. 5206. In its complete title, it is called, Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5121-5206 (Stafford Act)

You will find there is absolutely no cause to implement martial law by the President of the United States. The President falls into play via the Governor of whichever state disaster aid is requested from. In the case of the Louisiana Governor, you can use the following link, it is the official letter of emergency aid from the Louisiana Governor to the President of the United States (FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency - which by the way, must also abide by all the provisions of the Stafford Act).

gov.louisiana.gov...

Also, according to State (Louisiana) Statute, ref: Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act of 1993, the governor is unable to declare martial law, only a state of emergency, which is like martial law, but it is not martial law.

The only crux about the Stafford Act is, any and all victims of this disaster (and/or any disaster when the Stafford Act kicks into place), is that, in accordance with 42 U.S.C. Section 5148, Nonliablility of Federal Government, if the federal government makes any mistake, causes any damage, et cetera, the entity is not held liable. Interesting note

So, no, there is absolutely no martial law in this particular disaster under the Stafford Act and/or State law. No matter how the media may like to keep its ratings high and keep the pace of fear steady so oil prices remain high, funds keep pouring in, and the entire country is engulfed in a web of absolute control, only the Stafford Act and State law applies. And if you read the entire Act, you will find, the victims will be well cared for, that is, as long as politics don't takeover.

Thanks for your time, Edward

Wow, thats weird, i though for so it was considered a state of emergency, but i guess thats just the media blowing things out of purportution. I wonder why they arent allowed to declare a state of emergency when people are waist deep in water, and thousands are without homes...If thats not an emergency, i DONT know what is.

Hey all. Just a prediction: Martial law will stay, and when the damage stops and the recovery is over, it will still stay. The hurricane is an opportunity to declare martial law.

Originally posted by Kushi
Hey all. Just a prediction: Martial law will stay, and when the damage stops and the recovery is over, it will still stay. The hurricane is an opportunity to declare martial law.

...... I also have a prediction.

Your prediction will not come true.

I agree with imposing Martial Law. I think everybody should be forced out of there, purely for heath risk reasons and to allow for the proper careful clean-up of the toxic mess. Disease does just not brew in the water, but it gets into the air, into the rotting wood beams in houses, etc. Perhaps the toxic dangers will increase even more once the floods go down and dead corpses start to surface. Rivers, lakes, etc connect. This is a dangerous environmental problem here. Those people wanting to stay and hang out in their homes... well I feel their need, but they gotta get out of there.

You know.... keywords such as "martial law" does not always have to invoke "one step closer to new world order" thoughts. Don't let conspiracy trend chatter and assumptions thwart your common sense folks.

Sean

The great thing about Martial Law - or if you like - FEMA's absolute rule in the area - is that no pictures of the bodies will be allowed to leak out.

This will be done to "honor and respect the dead" - as opposed to rescuing them when they were alive I guess...

Its a win-win situation for everyone!

This might be old news depending on which view point you're looking at, but I figured this ARTICLE will further support or not support the whole, "OMG It's MARTIAL LAW" I myself on the other hand don't know where to go with this one since I for one am in the military and would't quite be able to tolerate or know what to do in a situation where I would have to be the one giving the orders and taking place in implementing the dreaded MARTIAL LAW.

~ Eric ~ U.S Air Force


Troops, Cops Evacuate Holdouts


Associated Press | September 08, 2005


NEW ORLEANS - Using the unmistakable threat of force, police and soldiers went house to house Wednesday to try to coax the last 10,000 or so stubborn holdouts to leave storm-shattered New Orleans because of the risk of disease from the putrid, sewage-laden floodwaters.

"A large group of young armed men armed with M-16s just arrived at my door and told me that I have to leave," said Patrick McCarty, who owns several buildings and lives in one of them in the city's Lower Garden District. "While not saying they would arrest you, the inference is clear."

A frail-looking 86-year-old Anthony Charbonnet grumbled as he locked his front door and walked slowly backward down the steps of the house where he had lived since 1955.

"I haven't left my house in my life," he said as soldiers took him to a helicopter. "I don't want to leave."

Mayor C. Ray Nagin ordered law officers and the military late Tuesday to evacuate all holdouts - by force if necessary. He warned that the combination of fetid water, fires and natural gas leaks after Hurricane Katrina made it too dangerous to stay.

In fact, the first government tests confirmed Wednesday that the amount of sewage-related bacteria in the floodwaters is at least 10 times higher than acceptable safety levels. Dr. Julie Gerberding, chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned stragglers not to even touch the water and pleaded: "If you haven't left the city yet, you must do so."

There were no reports of anyone being removed by force. And it was not clear how the order would be carried out.

Active-military troops said they had no plans to use force. National Guard officers said they do not take orders from the mayor. And even the police said they were not ready to use force just yet. It appeared that the mere threat of force would be the first option.

"We have thousands of people who want to voluntarily evacuate at this time," Police Chief Eddie Compass said. "Once they are all out, then we'll concentrate our forces on mandatory evacuation."

Mindful of the bad publicity that could result from images of weary residents dragged out of their homes at gunpoint, Compass said that when his officers start using force, it will be the minimum amount necessary.

"If you are somebody who is 350 pounds, it will obviously take more force to move you than if you are 150 pounds," the chief said.

The stepped-up evacuation came as workers trying to get into the city to restart essential services came under sniper fire. More than 100 officers and seven armored personnel carriers captured a suspect in a housing project who had been firing on workers trying to restore cell phone towers, authorities said.

"These cell teams are getting fire on almost a daily basis, so we needed to get in here and clean this thing up," said Capt. Jeff Winn, commander of the police SWAT team. "We're putting a lot of people on the street right now and I think that we are bringing it under control. Eight days ago this was a mess. Every day is getting a little bit better."

The police chief boasted that 7,000 more military, police and other law officers on the streets had made New Orleans "probably the safest city in America right now."

Across miles of ravaged neighborhoods of clapboard houses, grand estates and housing projects, workers struggled to find and count corpses sniffed out by cadaver dogs in the 90-degree heat. The mayor has said New Orleans' death toll could reach 10,000. Already, a temporary warehouse morgue in rural St. Gabriel that had been prepared to take 1,000 bodies was being readied to handle 5,000.

Bob Johannessen, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Hospitals, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has 25,000 body bags on hand in Louisiana.

Asked if authorities expected as many as 25,000 bodies, he said: "We don't know what to expect."

"It means we're prepared," Johannessen said.

Marty Bahamonde, a FEMA spokesman, said the agency has hired a contractor to help remove bodies in the expectation that there may be large numbers of corpses.

"Nobody has any numbers or anything they're going by other than guesswork," Bahamonde said.

The enormity of the disaster came ever-clearer in neighboring St. Bernard Parish, which was hit by a levee break that brought a wall of water up to 20 feet high. State Rep. Nita Hutter said 30 people died at a flooded nursing home in Chalmette when the staff left the elderly residents behind in their beds. And Rep. Charlie Melancon said more than 100 people died at a dockside warehouse while they waited for rescuers to ferry them to safety.

The floodwaters continued to recede, though slowly, with only 23 of the city's normal contingent of 148 pumps in operation, along with three portable pumps. The water in St. Bernard Parish had fallen 5 feet.

John Hall, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said it was not clear how long it would be before all the pumps were running.

"There's a long way to go. We need to get a lot more capacity on line to make a real difference," he said.

Because of the standing water, doctors were being urged to watch for diarrheal illnesses caused by such things as E. coli bacteria, certain viruses, and a type of cholera-like bacteria common along the warm Gulf Coast.

Given the extent of the misery, Louisiana's two U.S. senators - Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican David Vitter - wrote a letter to Senate leaders Wednesday urging them to put aside partisan bickering in assigning blame over the federal response and focus on providing for victims.

"Please do not make the citizens of Louisiana a victim once again by allowing our immediate needs to be delayed by partisanship," they wrote.

Patricia Kelly was driven out of her home by flooding in the low-lying Ninth Ward and took up residence under a tattered, dirty green-and-white-striped patio umbrella in front of an abandoned barber shop. Despite the warnings, she refused to leave.

"We're surviving every day, trying to tolerate the situation by the grace of God. He's keeping us holding on just one day at a time," she said. "I'm going to stay as long as the Lord says so. If they come with a court order, then we'll leave."

Sgt. Joseph Boarman of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, whose soldiers helped coax people from their homes, said he could almost understand the reluctance to leave: "It's their home. You know how hard it is to leave home, no matter what condition it's in."

In the high and dry French Quarter, 48-year-old Jack Jones said he would resist if authorities tried to force him out of the home where he has lived since the 1970s.

While the streets were strewn with garbage, rotting food and downed power lines, Jones kept his block pristine, sweeping daily, spraying for mosquitoes and even pouring bleach down drains to kill germs.

Jones said the sick, the elderly and people who lack supplies should be evacuated - but not folks like him. He has 15 cases of drinking water, a generator, canned ravioli, wine, coffee and three cartons of Marlboros.

"I've got everything I need," he said. "I just want to be left alone."

Sound Off...What do you think? Join the discussion.

What's interesting to me is how this whole NO evac is going down with not so much as a peep from the NRA and second amendment advocates (I guess NRA have their preferred demographics). I saw some activity on the news today where patrols in the more ritzy sections were only confiscating guns and allowing residents to remain. Interesting times when the second amendment can be compromised instantly by an act of nature followed swiftly by government decree.

Seems to me the issue is too complicated for the media - there are 2 types of 'good' detainees (vs the criminals).

Some were desperate to leave - others were insistent on staying. Both positions are valid and deserve defense - but the holdouts are getting dissed. Seems too hard to tackle as a cause.


But oh yeah - where is the NRA on this one. Seems tailor-made to me....

[edit on 8-9-2005 by soficrow]