Court Reverses Landmark Katrina Ruling on Army Corps Liability

A federal appeals court reversed itself this week and threw out a judge’s landmark ruling that the Army Corps of Engineers was liable for billions of dollars in Hurricane Katrina flood damage that property owners blame on the corps’ maintenance of a New Orleans shipping channel. The same three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that sided with plaintiffs earlier this year withdrew that decision and replaced it with a new ruling in the federal government’s favor.