Abstract:
This Article discusses post-disaster housing rights violations and corresponding litigation following the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. The Introduction offers a brief reflection, at the ten- year anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, on post-disaster work at the Law Clinic of Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. It also presents a synopsis of post-disaster housing data with a focus on race and poverty. Part II discusses the Katrina Housing Justice Docket (Housing Docket)—my compilation of seminal lawsuits related to post-disaster housing rights litigation focused on the Greater New Orleans area and the State of Louisiana. Deconstructing the Housing Docket provides a means for understanding where and how the post-disaster housing rights of low-income people were disputed. My primary goal in writing this Article is to offer a road map of legal contestations to others engaged in post-disaster lawyering for vulnerable populations. My hope is that by building this record, we will also build more collective knowledge to achieve justice-oriented outcomes post- disaster.
