Constitutional Law and Katrina

Constitutional law is often cited as the source of all American legislature, and the structure of government is said to be based directly on the Constitution. Yet, Steve Griffin, a professor of law at Tulane, argues that governance by Constitutional law is separate from the actual structure of the government. He uses Katrina as the prime example, highlighting this government debacle as proof for a system reformation. The advantage of studying through Katrina is that every level of government was in work during the post hurricane relief. More specifically, it was an insight into current Congress organization and federalism present today.

There was much evidence, as with many major national disasters, that the devastation caused by Katrina was in a sense guaranteed by government failure. Three separate studies showed severe deficiencies in the levee construction, but Congress treated it as a “water project.” Professor Griffin states that Congress treats the creation of sound legislation as a “byproduct,” and essentially the purest form of pork. Policy is not the main objective of Congress, and as a result “instead of one policy, we have 535 policies.” With a collision between the activist states, interest groups, and Congress, Professor Griffin puts it cynically as “every member of Congress gets something, and that’s what keeps it going.”