Aged woman charged with looting

[chaz4jazz]

Looting Charge Rankles Church Deaconess

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 a stiff $50,000.

Her offense? 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 to eat 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 neighboring New Orleans police.

<snip>

Maten has been moved from a parish jail to a state prison an hour away. And the judge who set $50,000 bail by phone — 100 times the maximum $500 fine under state law for minor thefts — has not returned a week's worth of calls, her lawyer said.

The family has not been able to visit her during her two weeks of confinement and was allowed to talk to her by phone for only a few minutes. The state prison declined to let The Associated Press interview Maten by phone, demanding a written request.

Becnel, family members and witnesses said police snared Maten, a diabetic, in the parking lot of a hotel where she had fled the floodwaters that swamped her New Orleans home. She had paid for her room with a credit card and dutifully followed authorities' instructions to pack extra food, they said.

She was retrieving a piece of sausage from the cooler in her car and planned to grill it so she and her frail 80-year-old husband, Alfred, could eat, according to her defenders. The parking lot was almost a block from the looted store, they said.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050915/ap_on_re_us/katrina_costly_sausage&printer=1;_ylt=AiFr0gs6haLBXLkpIIDj6LZH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

___

[napi21]

1. This story need to get to the MSM! That's the only thing that will

work for sure!

I honestly wonder how many others fit this same description???

[faithfulcitizen]

31. agree, we all need to send a few e-mails, asap.

[iamjoy]

2. This Is An Outrage

arresting and holding the wrong person, it is like a police state. And that bail? Has the judge not heard of the eighth amendment?

Even if she was guilty, I would say just let her go. For pity's sake, she is in her 70s and was trying to eat.

:grr:

[indepat]

16. Welcome to Amerika

[IChing]

3. And the judge who set $50,000 bail by phone

100 times the maximum $500 fine under state law for minor thefts — has not returned a week's worth of calls, her lawyer said.

Sick, Sick, Sick

There is no mention if she was black
but I think I know the odds on the answer to that question

[jody]

4. Gov. Blanco should issue an immediate pardon for her and all others

who took food and water to survive.

[silverweb]

5. What the hell is wrong with these people???

Can't they do anything right, without stomping all over every concept of justice, humanity, and even common sense?

:grr:

[Dhalgren]

6. The "authorities" do not give a good goddamn for us.

We are slaves; we are animals; we are dirt...As long as the common people, the poor people, the peasantry of this country continue to act as though we are citizens just like the elite we will continue to be treated this way. That's your grandmother in jail! That's your mother in jail! As long as we internally try to side with the oppressors, they will have us by the throat. We must start expressing an understanding that we are not part of their country; they are occupiers and we will never be free until we stop trying to identify with them! I am sorry for the screed, this is just, finally, the last straw...

[Gnostic]

20. Excellent post

[Megahurtz]

45. Agreed. n/t

[tanyev]

7. Oh, for feck's sake.

And nobody's going to be arresting Halliburton for all the looting they're going to do.

[anitar1]

33. How about the 2 NO policewomen who were load ing

their shopping cart in a large store where people were looting? My understanding was, they had been sent in their to catch looters. But, there they were, being filmed, putting shoes and other items in their cart.The reporter even spoke with one of them .MSNBC, I think.

[cantstandbush]

8. Now, if Mr. President Bush really wanted to do something to convince

folks that he was sincere about his carefully staged compassion, he would intervene here. Offer a Presidential pardon and do it tonight.

[Javaman]

9. Les Miserables American style...

[Karenina]

10. Here's hoping they messed with

the WRONG Deaconess. :evilgrin:

[melody]

11. I guess this is part of Bush's Zero Tolerance "policy"

We should have zero tolerance for sociopathic cruelty, but since that's his stock in trade...

[Bravo411]

21. Zero Tollrance For Poor Trying To Survive This Disaster..

But it's O.K. for the rich to plunder the wealth of this country and to hord it for themselves.

It's crap like this that starts revolutions.

[0007]

12. This fucking sucks.

[crispini]

13. Grrrrrr.

How stupid is that? :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

[jillan]

14. This is what I wish the idiot would talk about tonite!

instead of the crap that is going to come out of his snout.

[Kurovski]

15. The family should be calling their elected official's offices.

It wouldn't do for strangers to swamp them with calls as they all have their hands full.

Perhaps the reporter could intervene on their behalf? That would expedite matters.

That ($50,000) judge is a story that gravely needs some pursuing. He sounds like a shithead ripe for impeachment. We have to start removing folks that are so out of touch with reality , decency, and the law from public service NOW.

[nickyt]

17. They are running this on WWLTV in New Orleans

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl091505sausage.5e3b6f64.html
so at least SOMEBODY down there will SURELY do SOMETHING
---way beyond my comprehension---

[DemInDistress]

18. Jailed Deaconess, 73, Ordered Released

It seems the AP story had the desired effect.She was released on Thurs
day.Its a damn shame though political leaders and contractors can rob
us blind and they hold "grandma" with a 50k bail..outrageous !!

[saigon68]

19. Its the AMERIKAN WAY

The rich get richer.

THE POOR GO TO JAIL


Anatole France (1844-1924) - pseudonym for Jacques Anatole François Thibault

"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread." (from The Red Lily, 1894)

[Rose Siding]

22. Here's a link

snip>
Despite intervention from the nation's largest senior lobby, volunteer lawyers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and even a private attorney, the family fought a futile battle for 16 days to get her freed.

Maten's diabetes, her age, not even her lifelong record of community service could get the system moving. Even the store owner didn't want her charged. "She has slipped through the cracks and the wheels of justice have stopped turning," her attorney Daniel Beckett Becnel III said, frustrated.

Then, hours after her plight was featured in an Associated Press story, a local judge on Thursday ordered Maten freed on her own recognizance, setting up a sweet reunion with her daughter, grandchildren and 80-year-old husband. It was unclear whether she would released Thursday evening or Friday.
...
Maten has been moved from a parish jail to a state prison an hour away. Her daughter had evacuated to Texas. And the original judge who set $50,000 bail by phone _ 100 times the maximum $500 fine under state law for minor thefts _ hadn't returned a week's worth of calls.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR2005091501281.html

Held a sick, old woman for SIXTEEN days. And they'll dare to blame it on bureaucratic confusion, but there is a HUMAN BEING at every. single. level. of that bureaucracy. :grr:

[truthpusher]

23. AP: Grandmother, 73, held as sausage looter

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9356608/

Grandmother, 73, held as sausage looter
-------------------
Witnesses, even deli owner, says church deaconess was wrongly arrested
-------------------
The Associated Press
Updated: 3:54 p.m. ET Sept. 15, 2005
-------------------
KENNER, La. - 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 a stiff $50,000.

Her offense?

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 to eat but was wrongly handcuffed by tired, frustrated officers who couldn’t catch younger looters at a store in Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans.

Even the deli owner doesn't want 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 who was walking,” said Elois Short, Maten’s daughter, who works in traffic enforcement for New Orleans police.

(snip)

complete story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9356608/

[Kurovski]

24. Dupe. Grandma was finally sprung!

The AP is good for something after all. :-)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1783608

It's on "The Greatest Page."

[bullimiami]

25. hey cops. the billion dollar looters are just getting started.

let granny go and get your cuffs ready.

guess not.

there is no justice.

[TankLV]

26. Umm - HINT AGENT MIKE: "Halliburton".

Might want to interview Dick Cheney.

[redwitch]

28. Those people were too scary. Grannies, them we can handle.

(Also, 12 year old schoolgirls who eat French fries on the metro in our nation's fair capitol). Stupid beyond belief. And damn cruel as well. This poor old lady hadn't been through enough? AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

[GarySeven]

27. Jean Valjean

was a triple axe murderer compared to this woman.

Doncha just HATE Republicans?

[buddysmellgood]

32. BURN IN HELL BITCH! DIE, DIE DIE. WHY DO YOU HATE AMERICA? HOW

could you steal sausage from America when you know we are at war with terrorists. IT'S CAMP X-RAY FOR YOU!
(I'm auditioning for freeper in the school play. How'd I do?)

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. Zero tolerance

just like our president said.

[NorthernSpy]

30. that grandma hates us for our Freeeeeeeeeeeeeedoms!

This despicable abuse by authorities of a minority people's vulnerable elders confirms the potential for serious human rights abuses in the region, and the need for international scrutiny.

From a great article that another poster pointed out to me
( http://www.blackcommentator.com/150/150_cover_baraka_usa_accountable.html ):

The disproportionate hardships shouldered by poor, mostly minority residents of the Gulf Coast in the wake of Katrina have been well-documented and acknowledged by most observers. It is not enough, however, to address this reality merely by issuing debit cards, formulating more equitable evacuation plans or otherwise better preparing for future disasters. Rather, as the U.N. principles clearly state, continued relief efforts must be viewed in the context of providing meaningful opportunities for the displaced and their families in the months and years to come. Stories of evacuees airlifted to destinations far from their families and friends, sometimes against their will, reinforce the importance of viewing the emergency measures as a temporary, not a permanent, solution. The idea that evacuees will remain where they’ve been dropped assumes that they have no other options; providing such options is an essential component of the government’s obligation according to the U.N. principles.

Missing from the press conferences and official statements has been any commitment to another of the U.N. principles: that the victims of Hurricane Katrina have the ability to decide for themselves how to reconstruct their lives. As the principles state unequivocally, the displaced have an inalienable right to participate in decisions about their future, and any recovery plan in Katrina’s aftermath must therefore include substantive input by those who have the most at stake. This is not a courtesy that can be discarded if it becomes inconvenient, but an absolute necessity.

It is important to note that the United States has consistently upheld the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement when similar circumstances have arisen in other countries. If the fundamental rights of displaced people apply in countries far less able to cope with such disasters as Hurricane Katrina, they certainly apply here.

[ninkasi]

43. This whole episode is sickening...

Doesn't anybody ever use common sense anymore? There were witnesses who told the cops that she hadn't looted the sausage. The judge needs to be removed from the bench, and quick, before Bush nominates him for the Supreme Court.

I also feel very bad for her husband. He is 80, and apparently in frail health. He must have been worried sick about her, especially knowing so much chaos was going on. How long did it take before the family knew, and could get him from the hotel?

We have become so divided as a nation; Bush and the neocons have now made it permissible to be outright mean. Of course, Halliburton and the rest of his cronies are still raking in their millions, and Kenny Boy is still free.

[Judi Lynn]

34. Jailed Diabetic Grandmom Ordered Released

Jailed Diabetic Grandmom Ordered Released

By KEVIN MCGILL and JOHN SOLOMON
Associated Press Writers

September 16, 2005, 4:47 AM EDT

KENNER, La. -- A 73-year-old diabetic grandmother and church elder who fled Katrina's floodwaters for the safety of a hotel ended up in prison instead for more than two weeks -- all over a bite of food.

Police in this New Orleans suburb arrested Merlene Maten the day after the hurricane on charges she took $63.50 in goods from a looted deli. Though never before in trouble with the law, her bail was set at a stiff $50,000 and she was shipped away to a state penitentiary.

Family and eyewitnesses insist Maten's prison odyssey was unwarranted, claiming she only had gone to her car to get some sausage to eat when officers cuffed her in frustration, unable to catch younger looters at a nearby store.

Despite intervention from the nation's largest senior lobby, volunteer lawyers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and even a private attorney, the family fought a futile battle for 16 days to get her freed.
(snip/...)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-katrina-costly-sausage,0,7691279.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[Judi Lynn]

35. Got a minute to check a story about a different grandmother?

Katrina-related. It's a day old so I can't post it in LBN, but you may find it interesting:

Grandmother Fired for Katrina Absences

By BILL DRAPER
Associated Press Writer

September 15, 2005, 9:40 AM EDT


KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- When forced to decide between caring for her 18-month-old granddaughter while her parents were stranded in New Orleans or showing up for her job, Barbara Roberts chose to be a grandma. And for that, she was fired.

Roberts, 54, had driven 200 miles from her home in Mount Vernon to Columbia on Aug. 27, the Saturday before Hurricane Katrina came ashore, to care for granddaughter Trisana for a couple of days. Her daughter, Tina Roberts, and son-in-law, Chris Hardin, were in New Orleans.

It was supposed to be a weekend business trip for the couple, and Roberts, who had used up her allotted time off in her assembly line job at Positronic Industries, had planned to be back to work on Monday. Her daughter had even arranged for another baby sitter to spend Sunday night with Trisana so Roberts could get home in time.

But when her son-in-law tried to schedule the flight home on the afternoon of Aug. 27, he was told all flights had been canceled because of the approaching hurricane.
(snip/...)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-katrina-fired-grandma,0,6226432.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[Southpaw Bookworm]

37. There have been several stories like this

* A NOLA police officer who didn't show up for roll call because he was saving his mother and grandmother, who were stranded in their home.

* A woman working for Family Dollar Stores who left early from work to drive to pick up her stranded family members.

Be prepared for more as time passes.

[NorthernSpy]

48. the War on Grannies continues apace

Be prepared for more as time passes.

Certainly. It's squarely within the Southern tradition to sock it to the vulnerable every chance that arises. The South has a bully culture.

[MountainLaurel]

50. Bully culture

What a great phrase! And so accurate as well.

[lateo]

36. Was she "aged" in a barrel?

Hopefully an oak one? What an odd way of saying that an elderly person has been charged with looting.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

38. :(

Sorry country...

I'm glad she didn't get tasered.

[Judi Lynn]

39. Probably an oversight. They'll probably have to double up on the next one

to make up for it, adding a little pepper spray.

Great name, Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel. Welcome to D.U. :hi:

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

53. thanks...

[genieroze]

40. Just posted to all relevant usenet newsgroups.

[slackmaster]

41. Give her a fair trial just like anyone else accused of a crime

Let a jury figure out what really happened.

ETA the $50K bail is of course outrageous for such a petty crime.

[genieroze]

42. Zero tolerance for looters, who happen to be black, and hungry.

White people find food, blacks steal it.
:sarcasm:

[ninkasi]

44. She didn't steal it, anyway

As far as the others mentioned who lost jobs...that's what happens when corporations run the country. The rest of us are slaves to them.

[genieroze]

46. I know she didn't steal it but the fact is because she is black they

assume she was one of the looters. I remember a old " All in the Family" episode where a old lady got arrested for stealing and bigot Nixon lover Rethug Archie said "good for her, she deserves to go to jail" or something to that effect and the friend of the old women said "she was hungry so she took a can of tuns" Then Meathead chimes in about how Nixon is really carrying for the elderly. So I guess the real meatheads thought it was okay to assume a old black lady was stealing some sausage or whatever then arrest and detain her for over two weeks. Even if she did steal it, it's a petty offense with a couple hundred dollar fine. My son got busted when he was a kid for shop lifting on a dare from his moron friends. It was for a pair of socks. He got a ticket for 250.00 and had to pay the store a hundred dollars plus the cost of the merchandise. Didn't even go to court.

[ninkasi]

47. I know, and that makes it even worse

A friend of mine bought a brand new car a few years ago, and because of her work schedule, arranged with the dealership for her 20ish son to pick it up. He got stopped twice on the way home by cops. Twice! He wasn't speeding, wasn't doing anything illegal, but he was a young black man, driving a new car, so apparently, they assumed he just HAD to have stolen it.

There are already some mean spirited letters going around the internet, supposedly written by people who had gone to volunteer at the Astrodome, or other shelter, telling that the people were ungrateful,complaining about not having luxury accommodations, etc. It's pretty easy on some to tell that they were written by bigots, because they over dramatize to such an extent that they couldn't possibly be true.

I have lost one long time friend over one she forwarded to me. I guess I might have been a bit more tactful, but it really bothered me, because I thought she was too intelligent to be taken in by such obvious drivel. I just told her that I had never realized that she was racist. She assures me shes not, but otherwise, why spread such crap?

The elderly lady in this story has been traumatized completely, by the forces of nature, and the ugly reality of prejudice. We're going to have to admit that it exists, and the extent to which it exists, to ever get this country back on track. The conservatives have used it for many years now, and by appealing to the worst in human nature...prejudice, greed, arrogance...they have ruined America. The judge in this lady's case is an idiot, too.

[Tomee450]

49. I had the same experience as your

friend's son. I had driven a beat up old jalopy for years and was never stopped by the police. They had no reason to do so since I always obeyed the traffic laws. Then I purchased a sporty new car and my troubles began. I kept getting stopped though my driving habits had not changed. It was simply that a black person was driving a brand new car. It's hard for people who never experience that kind of discrimination, that racism to believe it really exist. It does and it is widespread.

[ninkasi]

51. I know...

I'm white, but I've always had a deep sense of awareness at the bigoted attitudes in this country. If you want to get into trouble with people, say something racist when my family is together. My kids HATE things like inequality, and we all fail to see how others can claim that it doesn't happen. It's deeply embarrassing to me, that some people are just so stupid that they either don't believe it's happening, or participate in it.

I worked for 25 years in an office that was almost evenly split between black and white, and maybe that has something to do with it. We worked together, went to each other's weddings, held each other's hands when we had fights with our husbands or boyfriends, and cried with each other at funerals. Most of us were women, and we decided that we had more in common with each other as women, than we did with the opposite sex of our own race!

One of my sons told a friend that it wouldn't bother his mom if he announced that he was gay, or dating someone of a different race, but he wouldn't DARE bring a Republican home to meet Mama.

[struggle4progress]

52. The shocking lawlessness of New Orleans! No wonder W ..

.. wishes he had extraordinary powers ...