Scott Collier, of Edinburg, Texas, writes us with a further perspective on the difference between New Orleans and Houston:

Mr. Lifson's article on the disparity between New Orleans and Houston
was informative but missed the salient point.  Louisiana is the only state in the union in which the laws are based on French law, as opposed to English common law.  The difference is as profound as it is disastrous.  In English common law the outcome of a case is determined by precedence, what a previous court in a similar case found.  In French or Napoleonic law the outcome of a case is determined by whatever Napoleon wants the outcome to be.  Hence it should come as no surprise that New Orleans is as corrupt and bankrupt as Paris is.

9 02 05