Temporary jail set up in New Orleans bus station after Katrina News
Temporary jail set up in New Orleans bus station after Katrina

[JURIST] Suspected looters and others accused of committing crimes in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] are now being held at the city's Greyhound bus station, which has been turned into a makeshift jail. Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti told reporters late last week that a temporary detention facilty was being set up [JURIST report] after the Orleans Parish Prison and other local jails were evacuated. Officers from Louisiana's high-security Angola penitentiary [official website] are guarding the facility while the prisoners wait to be taken to a location where they can stand trial with judges in Baton Rouge via videoconference. Most of the men held at the temporary jail are accused of looting, but others were arrested on more serious charges, including attempted murder and rape. Reuters has more.