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Federal Courts Closed by Hurricane Katrina

Federal courts in three southern states are closed due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina, and an initial review indicates that some courthouses will be unusable for weeks or months.

Most notably, three federal courthouses in New Orleans had to be evacuated, including the John Minor Wisdom U.S. Courthouse – primary home of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Also closed in New Orleans are the courthouse that is home to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and the Hale Boggs Federal Building, which houses the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

A special problem exists for the district and bankruptcy courts. They currently have no jurisdiction – are not authorized to conduct court business – outside the geographic boundaries of the Eastern District.

The Judicial Conference of the United States, which makes policy for the federal courts, is asking Congress to pass emergency legislation to allow those courts to operate in another judicial district. The legislation would allow any court to do so when emergency circumstances require it.

Operations of the federal court in Pensacola, Fla., had been interrupted by the hurricane but that courthouse was opened Thursday. Federal courthouses remained closed, however, in Mobile, Ala., and Jackson, Miss.

Leonidas Ralph Mecham, director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, called on the "entire judicial family to support the courts in need." In a message to all federal chief judges, Mecham said his agency's Emergency Preparedness Office "has been meeting daily to monitor the status of the courts impacted by Katrina and to coordinate assistance efforts."

Those efforts include emergency funding and the provision of alternative phone and electronic communications systems.