MARTIAL, MARTIAL, MARTIAL!
Turns out there's been some confusion from news reports and that despite a prison riot complete with kidnappings (Or was it just a little "unrest?"), carjackings, mass looting and a cop being shot in the head by a looter, there is no martial law in New Orleans...yet. (See the update there marked "Important" and the associated links for some clarification.)
But now the Mayor of New Orleans, who has presumably seen enough, says he may order martial law on Wednesday after all. Did he get some sort of recent legal advice? Is he planning to allow full military control of the city? Or might it just be another loose use of the term even after the earlier confusion was clarified? We'll soon see if it causes more clarity or confusion tomorrow because existing Louisiana law is definitely being overtaken by events.
Meanwhile in Mississippi, Gov Barbour said he "considered whether he should impose martial law, but decided against it because every locale has its own needs."
And in one locale, they're considering it:
The damage is unprecedented, even for a town that has weathered its share of storms, said Vincent Creel, a spokesman for the city of Biloxi."It's been a horror story,'' Creel said.
Search-and-rescue teams were still searching through rubble for survivors, and martial law may soon be declared in Biloxi, where looting began to break out, Creel said.
MORE: Allowing pure insanity to unfold in New Orleans is unacceptable and cruel to the innocent people trapped, terrorized or victimized by an increasingly frenzied mob of criminals. That's why the optimal solution for ongoing crimes during a life-threatening crisis is harshly considered to be a bullet for the offender. Emergency personnel should not have to ignore the growing problem or be siphoned off in large numbers to keep order while more innocent people may die trapped in floods. This is not a typical blackout looting situation where people can theoretically protect their own property and where no lives hang in the balance. And the criminals know there's barely any arrest process here that even makes sense for what's left of the city's judicial system.
The level of urgency looks to be more along the lines of that in a warzone or in a hostage rescue situation. And I'm sorry, but appeasement doesn't work here either. There's no reason why innocent lives should be put in jeopardy so that parasitic looters can attempt to live large. At a minimum, some serious non-lethal tactics need to be considered. My vote is for experimental directed energy lasers but I'd settle for hard rubber bullets used very liberally.
The system, which will be mounted on a military vehicle, inflicts no permanent damage on humans, but temporarily inflicts a disabling, burning pain over the whole body by triggering heat receptors in the skin.
"This is an effect that literally gets under your skin," said Smith, who has voluntarily felt the "intolerable pain" of the beam during testing.
"I can assure you, once you come in contact with the beam, you will be inclined to stop whatever you are doing," he said.
UPDATE: Looks like the N.O. Mayor must have consulted with the Governor on the lawlessness and was talking about this:
Louisiana Gov. Blanco just said live on FNC that she will ask President Bush to send federal troops to conduct law enforcement in New Orleans and environs. It’s hard to see Bush refusing. This step moves the city closer to actual martial law.
UPDATE: New Orleans mayor declares "martial law", pulls police from rescues to halt looting.
Furious at a rising tide of lawlessness in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin Wednesday evening reassigned 1,500 New Orleans police from search-and-rescue missions to halt widespread looting [JURIST report] in the battered and flooded city. Declaring "martial law" in a dramatic invocation of his civic emergency powers, he directed officers to do "whatever it takes" to restore order, saying they could stop looters without regard to their civil rights and Miranda rights. CBS New Orleans affiliate WWL-TV has more....In another law-related development Wednesday, Louisiana Corrections Secretary Richard Stalder dismissed reports circulating late Tuesday that there had been attempted escapes and hostage takings associated with the transfer of some 7,600 prisoners from jails in the New Orleans area. In a briefing, he told jouranalists "We cannot find any credible intelligence that the kinds of things that had been reported have happened." WWL-TV has more.
10:30 PM ET - A spokesman for Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco said in a briefing late Wednesday that military police, Louisiana state troopers and police from other states were being deployed to New Orleans, and that pursuant to a request by the Governor federal troops would be assigned to search-and-rescue to free Louisiana National Guard personnel for law enforcement in the city.
It's funny how Mayor Nagin didn't care much about the legal definitions and such. He was going to declare "martial law" today come hell or high water (or both in this case).
MORE: Check the latest updates from Michelle Malkin