*One quick blog note: we've changed the archives so you can read posts by day. To see Monday's entries, click on 03/13/06.

Like throwing a stick of dynamite into a can of gasoline – that’s what Hurricane Katrina did to the New Orleans criminal justice system.

Today we met (on paper, that is) A.A., a black male who served 7 months of a 5 month sentence. Lost in the system (and I use that term "system" very loosely), he was found by a student volunteer and his case was brought before the court with the help of the Tulane Law Clinic. Only after very extreme efforts by these groups and little or no cooperation from the courts and jails is this man out.

The Orleans criminal system was in crisis before the storm hit. Now, the situation is critical. The criminal courts don't even have a permanent home, holding sessions in the Federal Courts building instead. The already-slim and now drastically-trimmed Public Defender's office is incapable of handling their case load. People have been in jail without being charged, without trial, without counsel.

At times, the work we're being asked to do seems impossible, insurmountable, like sticking your finger in a dam break. But other times, when you hear local attorneys thank us over and over again, when they so passionatly speak about Project Triage and how much it's needed by the local legal community, it's easy to see how any help at all is just plain enormous.