Abstract
The legal issues that could arise after a catastrophic event in the United States are innumerable, as are the articles, treatises, and books discussing them. After 9/11, numerous scholars focused on legal matters that could arise after a terrorist event. More specifically, they examined the legal aspects of one particular catastrophic event—terrorist use of a weapon of mass destruction (WMD). But the threat from natural disasters and their legal implications remains a concern, as well. Hurricane Katrina revealed some fundamental problems in the way the United States approaches emergency response in general. Katrina demonstrated that the legal underpinnings for the US consequence management framework in response to catastrophes may be out of date in a world where a major natural or man-made disaster could overwhelm the emergency response systems and procedures that are currently in place.
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Notes
Stephen M. Griffin, “Stop Federalism before it Kills Again: Reflections on Hurricane Katrina,” March 13, 2006, at ssrn.com/abstract=894770, last accessed July 21, 2009.
DHS, National Response Framework, January 2008, at 24, www.fema.gov/pdf/emergency/nrf/nrf-core.pdf, accessed July 16, 2009.
Frances Fragos Townsend, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned, (Department of Homeland Security: February 2006), p. 13, at library.stmarytx.edu/acadlib/edocs/katrinawh.pdf, accessed July 19, 2009.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Memorandum, “Implementation of the National Response Plan and the National Incident Management System,” November 29, 2005.
Rodney Liberato, A New Department of Defense Framework for Efficient Defense Support for Civil Authorities (Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School, September 2007), at www.hsdl.org/homesec/docs/theses/07Sep_Liberato.pdf&code=6b6c5899f864eb6c6f6a7656188d2a13, accessed August 12, 2009. As the author also points out, “The challenge does not lie solely in the approval process, but also in the timely and effective notification, preparation, deployment, and employment of military capabilities.”
Stephen Young, The Posse Comitatus Act: A Resource Guide, February 17, 2003, at www.llrx.com/features/posse.htm, accessed August 17, 2009.
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© 2013 Jeffrey A. Larsen
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Gillette, G.R. (2013). Legal Issues Associated with a Catastrophic Domestic Incident. In: Larsen, J.A. (eds) Responding to Catastrophic Events. Initiatives in Strategic Studies: Issues and Policies. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137336439_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137336439_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-33641-5
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