Editors note: Payal volunteered down in New Orleans from January 2-7. She was there to help residents with legal issues around demolitions. She emailed this update to friends and family after returning. The hearing she talks about will be this week on the 19th, so you can keep an eye on the news to see what happens.

I was in New Orleans this past week working with a grassroots organization (the Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund) on the anti-demolitions case in the Lower Ninth Ward. This ward was the section hardest hit by Katrina, due in large part to the fact that the levees were the weakest there and the area is one of the poorest in the city. The experience was, probably needless to say, incredibly intense. For those of you that don’t like to read, here are the photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/87748367@N00/sets/1786858/

The PHRF has been working since December to combat a government decision to demolish 1000+ homes in the Ninth Ward, without notification to the owners of these homes, and without a thorough statement as to how these particular homes were selected. In response to threat of litigation by PHRF, the government reduced the list to 117 homes that it viewed as particularly bad, and provided PHRF with a list of GPS addresses for these homes. However, even this list is fraught with inconsistencies, and often list homes full of personal belongings that are salvageable. These owners have still not been given notice, and the list of GPS addresses is of little use to lay citizens who do not possess and are not equipped with GPS systems. Further, the GPS locations are inaccurate many times, including pointing to empty fields or still intact houses. There are also arguments that citizens should be permitted to participate in the decision to bulldoze; the current process has reflected a historical neglect of citizens of the Lower Ninth Ward in political decisions in NOLA. The Lower Ninth Ward is a predominately African-American community. In a city with a long history of racism, the decision to bulldoze in this community and in no other in the city (even poor white communities with similar damage) is particularly problematic. As a result of these concerns, the state court issued an injunction that was valid until January 6th (yesterday).

The eminent domain issues in this case have created some strange alliances for PHRF, including FoxNews and other conservative groups. While this was an unexpected turn of events, the sympathy may be particularly helpful, in that the case was recently removed to federal court, to be heard by Martin Feldman, a Reagan appointee.

As one of a team of law student volunteers with PHRF, I spent time in the 9th Ward photographing and filling out forms describing the conditions of these homes. When we had finished matching the GPS coordinates to the 117 houses (a project that took over 3 days, with 10 teams of student volunteers on each day), we catalogued the evidence to be submitted to court. During this time (January 5), we also had a press conference about the case, in preparation for our status hearing on Friday. During the press conference, PHRF attorneys received a call from a resident in the Lower 9th, frantic about bulldozers moving property outside of her home–in clear violation of the injunction, which was valid until the 6th. PHRF attorneys rallied the activists, students, residents, and media present at the press conference to caravan to the Lower Ninth, where we stood in protest until the demolition crew drove out of the 9th Ward. Despite the presence of military police, Federal Protection Services (Homeland Security), and NOLA police, the altercation was relatively peaceful. PHRF organized teams to patrol the Lower 9th until the city gave its assurances that no other demolition would happen that day.

The following day, during the status conference, Judge Feldman ordered an extension of the injunction for two more weeks, until the hearing on January 19th. While this is a preservation of the status quo, it gives the city time to perhaps try to provide some notification, while also giving citizens a chance to visit their properties (PHRF has been working on finding and notifying owners on its own, and has had several successes). National media coverage of these recent events are sure to assist in these efforts. Interestingly, Judge Feldman cited specific concerns about the fear of racial riots in NOLA as a result of these decisions, and said, “we don’t want another L.A. here.” This explicit reference to the power of the people, and the impact the PHRF has had in organizing this power, was a huge morale boost for those affected by the case.

Legal stories aside, this was one of the most inspiring weeks I have experienced. Seeing the destruction firsthand, and stretching into the distance around you, is just overwhelming, to say the least. While we were collecting evidence, we spoke with a family who had just returned to the 9th Ward for the first time since Katrina. As they pointed out the homes of family members, teachers, and friends, the disbelief they felt at what they saw in front of them was clearly apparent. To see houses sitting on cars, houses blown 2 blocks away due to the winds, and markings on houses listing how many had been found dead inside…it seemed unreal, even to me, who hadn’t seen the neighborhood thriving as it had been before. The contrast between these areas and wealthier areas such as the French Quarter, was even more striking. The discussions with the activists and students this past week were similarly intense, covering the centrality of racial tensions in the opposition to these decisions, whether citizens should get a say in whether their house is demolished, whether it would be “negligent homicide” to allow citizens to move back into the 9th Ward, etc. I know this email hasn’t captured many of those subtleties, but I would be more than happy to discuss them in person (if you aren’t bored by this already!).

Anyway, that’s enough for now…I’m sorry this is so long, but it is an experience I really wanted to share. I hope you all are doing well.