Judge Tells FEMA To Resume Housing Payments for Katrina Victims
Good.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon’s ruling sharply criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency for illegally cutting housing funding and subjecting storm victims to a convoluted application process he called “Kafkaesque.”
…FEMA, criticized for responding too slowly to the storm, said in a statement Wednesday that it sent letters outlining the program changes, explaining why some people were ineligible and describing the appeals process.
Leon, however, said those letters contained only program codes and agency jargon and did not explain anything. Some evacuees got multiple letters with conflicting information, he said, leaving families unable to understand why their aid was being cut.
Until FEMA explains itself and allows victims to appeal, Leon said the government must keep making housing payments.
We have a gentleman attending our church right now who is a Katrina refugee. He was a bank trust officer on the Gulf Coast, but he lost everything to the hurricane. And you can’t buy a banking job in Birmingham right now — two big mergers in the past couple of years have resulted in huge layoffs. His aid was cut off, and he’s been spending fourteen days a month at the Salvation Army and the rest of the time living in his car. Till someone stole the car last week. Which not only takes away his shelter but also his ability to get around the city and look for work (no public transit worth speaking of here). Something is wrong with this picture.
“It is unfortunate, if not incredible, that FEMA and its counsel could not devise a sufficient notice system to spare these beleaguered evacuees the added burden of federal litigation to vindicate their constitutional rights,” Leon wrote.
That may be the understatement of the week.