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Pam Chriss feels like she’s been robbed twice – first by Hurricane Katrina, and now by the justice system.

“We’re not treated equally at all,” Chriss, a Katrina evacuee, said. “I’m very angry … That’s my child. My child is gone. I’m very angry.”

Chriss’ son, Melvin, has remained behind bars ever since he was arrested on a weapons offense last November.  She say she was unable to secure bond because local bondsmen refused to work with her.

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“I know we are treated differently because we’re from Louisiana,” Chriss said.

Claims like Chriss’ are not uncommon.  Other Katrina evacuees say they have loved ones stuck in jail because they were never given the opportunity to post the customary 10 percent bond.

Houston bondsman Randy Kubosh says it’s because they pose a flight risk.

“We’ve lost a whole lot of money,” Kubosh said. “I have to ask for the full amount of the bond, which I don’t want to do, but have to do just to cover myself.”

It may cover the business, but activists like Parnell Herbert say it’s tearing families apart. 

“We’ve got a lot of people in the lower income bracket, and many times they feel powerless, voiceless,” Herbert said.

And some of them, like Chriss, feel childless as well – at least until her son is able to walk free and come home again.