Billy Sothern, a New Orleans anti-death penalty lawyer and a Soros
Justice Media Fellow, is a frequent contributor to The Nation and
the author of Down in New Orleans: Reflections From a Drowned
City (California).
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans's ruling class is demolishing public housing to make way for private businesses and expensive condos.
As the New Orleans Jazz Fest unfolded, a down-home celebration, bright with beads, sequins and feathers, took place in the city's poorest neighborhoods.
Billy Sothern, member of the legal team that represented Patrick Kennedy, convicted of child rape, in a landmark Supreme Court death penalty decision this week, explained the issues at stake in this 2007 essay.
History repeats itself for the white residents of St. Bernard Parish, who tried and failed to restrict rentals in their devastated streets to blood relatives, barring blacks and Hispanics.