We are taught that the structure promises us yes civil liberties, resembling the freedoms of faith and meeting and the perfect to undergo palms. we aren't taught that none of those rights are absolute and that the govt can control those rights. we're additionally now not taught that the govt has the facility to infringe on people’s civil liberties, topic to various degrees of judicial evaluation. the security of civil liberties is mainly vital whilst there's an emergency or hindrance, elevating the query of even if we'd like an emergency structure. whereas this query has been raised while there's a nationwide catastrophe, it's also an important factor whilst there's a local or state-based emergency, comparable to the person who resulted from storm Katrina.

Following increasingly more emergencies in the course of the kingdom, together with typhoon Sandy, the Ferguson, Missouri, unrest, and the Ebola outbreak, there's a have to verify no matter if our civil liberties are safe in those situations. at the 10th anniversary of typhoon Katrina, this publication explores how country emergency legislation influence constitutional civil liberties by means of reading the studies of typhoon Katrina’s “involuntary heroes,” these whose civil liberties have been infringed upon through the govt. and who eventually obtained little to no redress within the judicial process for his or her anguish. it's crucial studying for constitutional students and for participants of most of the people who actually are looking to comprehend constitutional rights in the context of this historical crisis.

“Involuntary Heroes, Professor Mitch Crusto’s newest paintings of breathtaking scholarship, has the capability to revolutionize the best way usual american citizens and students alike take into accout typhoon Katrina’s legacy. by means of rescuing from obscurity the unsung or approximately forgotten heroes of typhoon Katrina, Crusto advances a thorough inspiration: constitutional safeguards are wanted so much in the course of emergencies, not just to guard the civil rights of the minorities between us, but in addition to maintain the hard-won freedoms of the bulk from executive encroachment.”

—D'Ann Penner, writer of Overcoming Katrina: African American Voices from the Crescent urban and Beyond

“Involuntary Heroes info a number of the injustices hundreds of thousands suffered within the clean hell of Katrina Examples comprise tales of visitors wrongfully imprisoned for weeks; humans fleeing floodwaters became away at gunpoint from their very own dry neighborhoods by means of police; householders arrested and crushed of their personal houses through legislations enforcement; ladies raped; prisoners restrained in feces-filled waters; officers permitting the aged and ailing to die unattended in public; and police murders of blameless humans. Professor Crusto rigorously tells those tales, thoughtfully analyzes the criminal wrongs dedicated, and painfully describes the common disasters of the courts to provide justice. This booklet is a must-read for all who care concerning the Katrina event and what it capability for our state. It illustrates how a lot additional we need to visit make civil rights, civil liberties, constitutional rights, human dignity, and justice actual for all our humans all of the time.”

—Bill Quigley, author of Storms nonetheless Raging: Katrina, New Orleans and Social Justice

“A devastating exposé of the way, in tragic man-made emergencies just like the post-Katrina flooding, our dedication to civil liberties falters and voters' lives don't appear to subject. confidently, by way of providing lousy truths, this ebook might help hinder such betrayal whilst the subsequent emergency arises.”

—Sheryll Cashin, author of The disasters of Integration and position no longer Race

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