[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] filed a motion on Thursday seeking to gain access to the New Orleans city jail in response to allegations of mistreatment [ACLU press release] during Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive]. The motion for a temporary restraining order [PDF text] to preserve evidence is supported by declarations from two prisoners who described being abandoned at the jail with no food, water, or electricity. Sheriff Marlin Gusman admitted that electricity was down and toilets stopped working, but says prisoners had food from the prison and MREs supplied by the Army. He also denied allegations that dead bodies were floating through the prison. Democrats in Congress have also written to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales voicing concerns about prisoner treatment [text of letter] and possible misconduct by law enforcement officers, and calling for an investigation into reports that correctional officers abandoned inmates. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase…

• Lawyers request DOJ supervision over temporary Louisiana prison facility
• New Orleans prisoners left in locked cells during Katrina, rights group says
• Violence, chaos at New Orleans jail after guards fled from Katrina, survivor says