What should New Orleans do with prisoners before the hurricane hits?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - What should New Orleans do with prisoners before the hurricane hits?

Posted: 8/28/2005 6:45:16 AM EDT

Assuming prisoners are in for everything from DUI to the worst crimes imaginable, you can't select those to be moved and leave the rest, would open jailup to "equal protection" constitutional claims.

Also assuming there will be many deaths, as new orleans has a special flooding problem that shuts the city down for some time after this type of event. Also assume New Orleans has had ample time to come up with a response on how to protect their prisoners when this type of event happens.

The Mayor's spokesman was just heard (by me) to say "we are going to leave prisoners where they belong."

So witha category 5 hurricane with estimated winds in ecess of 175 mph, what do we do with our prisoners?

( I am normally a law and order kind of guy, but I ask cause my brother has had several DUIs in life, just can'be beat the bottle, so I am wonder ing what if my brother were inthere...)

Posted: 8/28/2005 6:46:45 AM EDT

[#1]

Depends, what are they in for?

Posted: 8/28/2005 6:51:00 AM EDT

[#2]

Stack in stratified layers; worst on the bottom, shackled hand to foot.

Posted: 8/28/2005 6:52:00 AM EDT

[#3]

Misdemeanor?
Get in the back of the van.
Felony?
No sir, our records indicate no felony prisoners in the New Orleans prison system. Lets roll out.

Posted: 8/28/2005 6:52:54 AM EDT

[#4]

Pangea wrote: Stack in stratified layers; worst on the bottom, shackled hand to foot.

I'd like some realistic input from you guys. I know, I know, you WERE serious! haha.

Posted: 8/28/2005 7:24:29 AM EDT

[#5]

No one, regardless of their crime should be left to drown like rats in the hold of a ship as it goes down. That having been said if the jail is above sea level (I know most, if not all of New Orleans, is not) then tough it out. If not, move them to a secured facility away from the sea surge. Then put them to work cleaning up the damage and keep them there until its completed.

Posted: 8/28/2005 7:26:01 AM EDT

[#6]

Move all misdemeanor offenders.

Let the felons be forced to stay. Cant let them have a chance of escape.

Posted: 8/28/2005 8:54:01 AM EDT

[#7]

Use them as sandbags?

Posted: 8/28/2005 8:56:05 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
Use them as sandbags?

I was going to say make a sea wall out of em'

Posted: 8/28/2005 9:02:43 AM EDT

[#9]

Line up holding tarps

Posted: 8/28/2005 9:06:45 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
No one, regardless of their crime should be left to drown like rats in the hold of a ship as it goes down. That having been said if the jail is above sea level (I know most, if not all of New Orleans, is not) then tough it out. If not, move them to a secured facility away from the sea surge. Then put them to work cleaning up the damage and keep them there until its completed.

I like this idea. Protect them from the storm, and let them work to rebuild. Those who play along nicely get some sort of perks.

Posted: 8/28/2005 9:11:25 AM EDT

[#11]

Jails generally house those convicted of misdemeanors (or felons serving less than a 1-sometimes 2- year sentence) or prisoners awaiting trial for misdemeanors or felonies.

I would say that these are not generally the kind of criminals most of us would consider drowning.

Posted: 8/28/2005 10:00:27 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Move all misdemeanor offenders.

Let the felons be forced to stay. Cant let them have a chance of escape.

Not all "felons" are violent offenders you know. It's rediculously easy to get charged with a felony these days.

I say move them ALL to a secure facility for the duration, then bring some (the non-violent offenders) to help clean up the old facility later on.

Posted: 8/28/2005 10:18:15 AM EDT

[#13]

Chain them to the sewer walls.... JUST KIDDING!!!!

Ya gotta take care of them. Move them to a safe and SECURE location.

Posted: 8/28/2005 10:29:21 AM EDT

[#14]

A lot of those folks are innocent until proven guilty - IOW, they're still awaiting trial. It's the government's responsibility to ensure their safety. If they're in no danger at their present location - wonderful. If not - they ought to be moved or released.

Posted: 8/28/2005 10:32:29 AM EDT

[#15]

Swim lessons, maybe?

HH

Posted: 8/28/2005 10:55:36 AM EDT

[#16]

As much as I hate to say it, they have to protect the prisoners. Anything less would be barbaric. I could see releasing non-violent criminals if they need to temporarily reduce the population.

Posted: 8/28/2005 11:06:00 AM EDT

[#17]

Snorkels

Posted: 8/28/2005 11:10:07 AM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
Snorkels

NO is what, 26 feet below sea level? Give them all a hose thats 30 feet long with a little floaty thing on the end

Posted: 8/28/2005 2:37:28 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
As much as I hate to say it, they have to protect the prisoners. Anything less would be barbaric. I could see releasing non-violent criminals if they need to temporarily reduce the population.

I dunno releasing them into an abandoned city might be a little bit too tempting for those who have shown that they are subject to yielding to those temptations. Cuz ain't nobody in their right mind going to be sticking around.

Posted: 8/28/2005 2:41:04 PM EDT

[#20]

You guys don't be so hard on the prisoners, one visit from the atf and some of us could be prisoners until proven innocent.

Posted: 8/28/2005 2:47:24 PM EDT

[#21]

An odd twist of fate...

"Montagne Pel�e is an active volcano on Northern Martinique, an island of the Caribbean. Villages, towns, and industry have been erected at the mountain's base and agriculture continues on its slopes, despite occasional threats from the mountain, such as minor eruptions of 1792, 1851, and a major eruption of 1902. The 1902 eruption rained hot lava and molten rock on the city of St. Pierre on Ascension Day, a religious festival that had drawn nearly 29,000 people to the town. Only one person survived the eruption, he being a condemned prisoner whose cell apparently provided him protection. Upon his being found four days later, he was released from custody. This was the world's most deadly volcanic eruption in the twentieth century. Soufri�re IV, a volcano on nearby St. Vincent Island, had erupted on the previous day.

Posted: 8/28/2005 2:47:54 PM EDT

[#22]

Gladiator fights for their freedom in the Superdome.

Posted: 8/28/2005 2:52:56 PM EDT

[#23]

Nonviolent offenders: Get them out and let them help clean up the jail when they come back.

Violent offenders: Take them out late tonight for a much deserved night swim. Surely they'd enjoy some time at the beach. A rousing game of off-shore Marco-Polo might do them wonders. Unfortunately, due to security considerations, they all must remain in cuffs and leg irons for the duration.

Posted: 8/28/2005 3:43:49 PM EDT

[#24]

Leave them on the first floor cells, double locked, and wait for the storm surge.

Posted: 8/28/2005 3:51:41 PM EDT

[#25]

If you turn them loose, they will probably end up as govenor.

Posted: 8/28/2005 4:03:17 PM EDT

[#26]

I have been in all the jails and complexes many times over the past 30 years:

The jail/prison/Court complex is located at Broad and Tulane Ave and takes up at least 8 square blocks.

It is in some of the lowest lying area in the city.

1)OPP=Old Parish Prison, the oldest of the complex is 3 stories

2) CCC=Community Correctional Center is 12 stories

3) Templeman 1, 2 and 3 --the newest - only 3 stories

4) HOD= House of detention is 8 stories

5) Police HQ is 8 stories

They will have to "Double Up"

No=One will drown

Posted: 8/28/2005 4:08:26 PM EDT

[#27]

sink or swim... literally.

Posted: 8/28/2005 4:11:33 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Move all misdemeanor offenders.

Let the felons be forced to stay. Cant let them have a chance of escape.

Not all "felons" are violent offenders you know. It's rediculously easy to get charged with a felony these days.

I say move them ALL to a secure facility for the duration, then bring some (the non-violent offenders) to help clean up the old facility later on.

I think Ollie North was a felon at one time...G Gordon Liddy too? Not all felons are Jeffery Dahmer.