By The Editors
Five current and former New Orleans police officers, charged with perpetrating one of the most notorious incidents of police misconduct in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina five years ago, went on trial this week in federal district court in New Orleans.

On Wednesday the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an injunction protecting funds from the Road Home Program so that displaced homeowners can have an opportunity to show that Louisiana and HUD have distributed recovery funds in a discriminatory manner.

By The Editors
On the fifth anniversary of the great hurricane that submerged most of New Orleans, President Obama traveled to the Big Easy to assure its residents that “all of America, not just people here, not just folks in the White House, but all of America remains concerned and remains committed to their rebuilding.”

Today a federal court in Washington, DC, prevented Louisiana from continuing to utilize a discriminatory formula as part of the federally-funded “Road Home” Program, which was designed by the Louisiana Recovery Authority and approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) to aid homeowners in their efforts to rebuild in the wake of devastating damage resulting from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

By Tarice L.S. Gray
It was five years ago this month Katrina left a historic mess in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. The  destruction of the hurricane,  been called one of the worst natural disasters in American history, was documented by filmmaker Spike Lee in his 2005 Emmy-award winning film “When the Levees Broke: A requiem in four parts.”

The funding formula used to provide grants to New Orleans residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita very likely disadvantaged black homeowners because it was based on depressed property values that result from both current racial isolation and the city’s segregated past, a U.S. District Court judge has indicated. As [...]

By The Editors
Six New Orleans police officers were indicted on federal charges for having participated in a police shooting at the city’s Danziger Bridge days after Hurricane Katrina struck which left two unarmed civilians dead and four wounded.

By The Editors
The investigation into incidents of murderous violence by the New Orleans police department in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina received another jolt late last week when a federal grand jury there indicted five city current and former officers in connection with the gruesome death of Henry Glover.

By Lee A. Daniels
A former New Orleans police officer’s guilty plea in federal court this week has further exposed the police department cover-up about the police shooting of six unarmed civilians on that city’s Danziger Bridge in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

By John Payton
Today provides a moment for reflection on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., born 81 years ago on this day. It is also a moment of intense anguish for the survivors and those continuing to suffer in the wake of the tragic earthquake in Haiti.