The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has sued the New Orleans City jail, based on reports that inmates were left without food and water after Hurricane Katrina. According to the ACLU, some Louisiana inmates were reportedly left locked in their cells as well. The ACLU is filing suit in order to obtain access to jail records.

New Orleans officials have already admitted that there was a loss of electricity, no working toilets and an oppressive, foul-smelling atmosphere. However, officials maintain that some of the inmates' claims are not true, denying allegations of corpses floating through the facility and prisoners going without food and water for extended periods of time. Officials say that inmates, staff, and their families all had food from the prison as well as military MREs.

The ACLU says that it has reports signed by “scores” of inmates, citing that they were left in “squalid” conditions, for days, after some officials abandoned their posts. The suit was filed because Louisiana prison officials have not responded to repeated attempts made by the ACLU to access records related to the incidents.