Join us for this hour long interview with David Utter, Executive Director of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL.org). The JJPL has just released a report entitled "Treated Like Trash: Juvenile Detention in New Orleans Before, During, and After Hurricane Katrina"The program will be repeated for 24 hours and then again on the weekend.
The New York Times ran as story today about the JJPL and the report:
Teenage Prisoners Describe Hurricane Horrors
By ADAM NOSSITER | Published: May 10, 2006 |NY Times
NEW ORLEANS, May 9 More than 100 teenagers held in detention during Hurricane Katrina endured horrific conditions in the storm's aftermath, including standing for hours in filthy floodwater, having nothing to eat and drink for three to five days, and being forced to consume the waters as a result, according to a report released here Tuesday.The report was prepared by the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, a group that has long advocated changes in the state's troubled juvenile system. It was based on interviews with more than 60 teenagers held at the Orleans Parish Prison during the storm, as well as with prison staff members.
Youths who were interviewed described water rising in their darkened cells and a scramble onto top bunks to avoid it. They also said that when they were finally rescued in some cases, after several days they experienced dizziness and dehydration because of lack of food. One reported being "roped together" with plastic handcuffs as he and others were led out through neck-high water.
"There was food floating in the water and we tried to catch it and eat it; that's how hungry we were," said one 15-year-old identified as E. F. in the report.
New York Times
