What happens to the people when the government and laws of equality do not exist during a time of crisis forces and the majority of people left policing the area are war-hardened veterans who are not subject to the same system of checks and balances that all “regular” law-enforcement officials are burdened by? Unchecked power and the loss of due process during times of crisis can foster in a climate of ethnic profiling, stereotyping, and civil rights abuse. As a consequence, many people may become victims of the same laws that were part of a system that was originally formed to protect and serve them, this unchecked power can become devastating to people and their families. In the nonfiction book “Zeitoun”, Eggers  illustrates this point very thoroughly when Zeitoun is arrested without reason or explanation inside of a friend’s home and imprisoned for a total of 23 days without trial. Zeitoun’s journey through the “system” during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is a perfect example of the harm that unchecked power can have.