Victory for Katrina Homeowners

"'It is the court's opinion that the negligence of the corps, in this instance by failing to maintain the MR-GO properly, was not policy, but insouciance, myopia and shortsightedness,' wrote Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr. of Federal District Court.

In many ways, the ruling still fell short of what many residents of the area had hoped.

The judge had earlier ruled he would not consider that the construction of the canal led to widespread flooding. As a result, Wednesday's decision was limited to the maintenance of the canal, and the liability applies only to damage around the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish, east of the city."