Corps ruled responsible for Katrina damage
By Tom Baxter
Southern Political Report
November 19, 2009 — A federal judge in New Orleans ruled Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers' failure to properly maintain the levee system around New Orleans was responsible for the massive flooding in the city after Hurricane Katrina, awarding $720,000 to six residents and a business who brought the suit. The federal government potentially could be liable for billions more in damages as a result of U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval's ruling that the Corps failed to maintain a navigation channel, which led to the flooding of the Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish. Duval ruled the Corps couldn't be held responsible for flooding in eastern New Orleans, home of two of the plaintiffs. The ruling gave weight to the premise that the destruction in New Orleans was a man-made disaster which could have been prevented, and opened the way for thousands of residents, businesses and government entities to claim damages. -- The South Carolina State Ethics Commission ruled Wednesday there is probable cause to bring charges against Gov. Mark Sanford for violations involving his travel and use of campaign funds. The commission didn't specify what offenses Sanford may have committed, and his attorney characterized them as "minor, technical matters." But the ruling opens the way for a hearing to determine if Sanford is guilty, and likely gives teeth to the movement in the legislature to have Sanford impeached. Sanford, beset since last summer over his secret trip to visit a girlfriend in Argentina, has 14 months left to serve in his term. -- A Democratic candidate for attorney general in Texas says the 2005 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in the state contains language which may inadvertently have negated all marriages in the state. Houston lawyer Barbara Ann Radnofsky has raised the issue over a phrase which says the state "may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage." That effectively "eliminates marriage in Texas," including common law marriage, she maintains. A spokesman for Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott said his office stands behind the amendment and will continue to defend it in court. |
