Related Stories
Judge Chastises FEMA as Botching Katrina Housing Program
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of New York Times
Posted: December 17th, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/washington/14fema.html?ex=...
A federal judge on Wednesday called the Bush administrations handling of a Hurricane Katrina housing program a legal disaster and ordered officials to explain a computer system that cannot count evacuees with precision or explain why they were denied aid. The judge ... ruled last month that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had violated evacuees constitutional rights by eliminating their housing payments without notice. Judge Leon ruled that the agency last spring and summer had mishandled the transition from a short-term housing program to a longer-term program. Instead of explaining why financing was being cut, the agency provided only computer-generated and sometimes conflicting program codes, Judge Leon said. He ordered agency officials to explain those decisions so that thousands of evacuees could understand the reasoning and decide whether to appeal. Im not looking for a doctoral dissertation, Judge Leon said. Im looking for a couple of paragraphs in plain English. This is a legal disaster, Judge Leon said. Peoples rights are being denied. I dont want us to get so mired in the minutiae and the law while, in the meantime, people who need help are not getting help. The agency has appealed Judge Leons initial order and is hoping a higher court will block its enforcement.
Related Stories
Latest News
Key News Articles from Years Past
