After striking Louisiana two decades ago, Hurricane Katrina remains among the deadliest US natural disasters, forever changing American attitudes on issues ranging from disaster preparedness to infrastructure. However, an event of such magnitude oftentimes has overlooked impacts, which in Katrina’s case was that on criminal justice reform. This was elucidated in a recent event by the Vanderbilt Project on Prosecution Policy and the Justice Innovation Lab, which highlighted how the aftermath of Katrina spurred conversations and action related to reforming local and state justice systems. The book the event covered, Jared Fishman’s Fire on the Levee: The Murder of Henry Glover and the Search for Justice After Hurricane Katrina, serves not only as a poignant reminder of how our justice system fails in the face of tragedy, but also how it can use its past failings to inform more equitable solutions.
The Vanderbilt Project on Prosecution Policy (VPOPP), led by Professor Alissa Heydari, is a nonpartisan network of prosecutors, researchers, students, and other stakeholders dedicated to improving individual and collective outcomes in the criminal justice system. In addition to hosting events for undergraduate and law students, VPOPP hosts a podcast, True Bill Talk, where experienced guests explore the reality of prosecution in America. Their September 10 event drew in over 50 aspiring JD candidates and community members interested in hearing how this natural disaster became a pivotal reflection point in the path towards equitable justice.
Jared Fishman, who now runs the Justice Innovation Lab, was serving as a prosecutor with the Department of Justice when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Starting in February 2009, he conducted an 18-month investigation into unusual circumstances around a man’s death and the role law enforcement played in covering it up. On the panel, Fishman was joined by Special Agent Ashley Johnson, the other lead investigator in this case.
During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there were rumors that the New Orleans Police Department was guilty of misconduct against certain communities. A.C. Thompson of ProPublica reported on potential allegations of misconduct, the first rumblings that informed Fishman’s eventual investigation. The story starts in February 2009, when a man by the name of William Tanner informed the FBI that his car was stolen and burned by the police in the aftermath of Katrina. He, most notably, also mentioned that a man was in the car. Special Agent Johnson, who was assigned to the case, along with Mr. Fishman, began interviewing people in the police department about the actions of the officers.
In the year and a half that followed, officers would lie on behalf of one another, refuse to comment on questions, and frequently give the same rhetoric: “‘You’ve got to understand, it was Katrina!’” Special Agent Johnson recalled when asked what the most common response she received to her questioning was. After more than 300 interviews, the dynamic duo finally built enough of a case to prosecute five officers for the murder of Henry Glover, the man Tanner believed was in the car. One thing that the panel underscored was the fear many officers had of going on the record against fellow officers, spotlighting an “us versus them” mentality. However, when Fishman and Johnson’s investigation finished, many of their witnesses were former or current police officers. They did this by explicitly stating their intentions were to target the bad actors within the department, not to undermine it.
On September 2, 2005, less than a week after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, New Orleans Police Officer David Warren shot Henry Glover in New Orleans’ Algiers district. Glover’s brother, Edward King, flagged down Tanner to get medical attention. As the police had blocked off the bridge to the nearest hospital, Tanner decided to take the injured Glover, his brother King, and his friend Bernard Calloway to Paul B. Habans Elementary, where he had seen a SWAT team days before. But instead of receiving medical attention, they were dragged out of Tanner’s car by New Orleans’ special forces. Police drove away in Tanner’s car with Henry Glover still inside, beating and handcuffing the surviving men. Days later, Tanner discovered his car burned on the levee, with a body, presumably Glover’s, inside.
At the end of the investigation and trial of five officers, three received guilty verdicts, with the two highest-ranking officers, Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann and former Lt. Robert Italiano, receiving acquittals. In the aftermath of this scandal, the New Orleans Police Department launched the EPIC program, a peer accountability program designed to promote a culture of high-quality and ethical policing. The program has been highly successful, with officers even being called upon to train other precincts nationwide on the importance of active bystandership.
In an exclusive quote with the Vanderbilt Political Review, Fishman left a strong message for anyone interested in pursuing the path of criminal justice advocacy: “It’s important for students to learn from this case so we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. I think this story is as relevant today as it was twenty years ago. Right now, we are facing real threats to the rule of law in America. This case and this story have a lot to teach us about the consequences of when our systems begin to fail, and more importantly, how we can stop it.”
If you are interested in hearing more about what Mr. Fishman and Special Agent Johnson had to say, you can watch the recording of the event here.
