USA TODAY: Corruption cases put New Orleans cops up against wall.

Perez’s New Orleans visit came as federal authorities investigate eight local cases of alleged police misconduct, many in the aftermath of the August 2005 flooding.

“The Constitution does not take a holiday, does not get suspended during a storm, even one as catastrophic as Katrina,” says Perez, who’s in charge of the Justice Department’s civil rights division.

Reader John Steakley writes: “This is a handy quote to have around the next time the government starts snatching guns at the first sign of trouble.” I’ll note that the New Orleans gun confiscation was found illegal by federal courts, and that Congress has since passed a statute making that clear.