Justice gone awry during Katrina

This is downright moronic!

The devasted areas have huge problems. People were shooting at each other. Dead bodies here and there....and police were bothered about a so-called "sausage looting"?

There needs to be a sense of perspective here!

A sausage - looted or not - lands elderly church leader in prison
at 15:38 on September 15, 2005, EST.
KEVIN MCGILL AND JOHN SOLOMON

KENNER, La. (AP) - Merlene Maten undoubtedly stands out in the prison where she has been held since hurricane Katrina. The 73-year-old church deaconess, never before in trouble with the law, now sleeps among hardened criminals. Her bail is $50,000.

Her offence?

Police say the grandmother from New Orleans took $63.50 in goods from a looted deli the day after Katrina struck.

Family and eyewitnesses have a different story. They say Maten is an innocent woman who had gone to her car to get some sausage from a cooler but was wrongly handcuffed by tired, frustrated officers who couldn't catch younger looters at a nearby store.

Not even the deli owner wants her charged.

"There were people looting, but she wasn't one of them. Instead of chasing after people who were running, they grabbed the old lady was who walking," said Elois Short, Maten's daughter, who works in traffic enforcement for neighbouring New Orleans police.......

Complete story here.[/color]