New Orleans prisoners left in locked cells during Katrina, rights group says News
New Orleans prisoners left in locked cells during Katrina, rights group says

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] has accused prison officials at the New Orleans Templeman III prison facility of leaving hundreds of inmates to fend for themselves [HRW press release] during Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive], calling the prisoners' experience a "nightmare." The human rights group interviewed prison staff and dozens of prisoners who said they had been locked in their cells for four days with water rising to their necks and above, and were without food, water, or electricity. Prison officials did evacuate the Templeman I and II buildings one day after the levees broke, but only after the prisoners were almost overcome by the water. Some Templeman III prisoners were able to escape from their cells in time, while others were reported to have drowned. Almost 520 prisoners are still missing and prison officials are uncertain whether they escaped or perished. Last week, an Australian tourist who had been arrested and jailed just before Katrina hit New Orleans said that guards at the jail fled their posts [JURIST report], leaving prisoners to fend for themselves without food, water, toilets or power. The Independent has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

On November 27, 1983, the revised Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church went into effect. Learn more about the history of Canon Law from Professor Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.

Alfred Nobel creates Nobel Prize in his will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his will, creating the Nobel Prize. Learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Commission.