Lawsuit alleging racism in Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' revived on appeal

By Nate Raymond

April 10 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court has revived a civil rights lawsuit which alleges a south Louisiana parish engaged in discriminatory land-use practices that placed polluting industries in majority-Black communities on a stretch of land nicknamed "Cancer Alley."

A three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday held that a trial court judge was wrong to toss the case by three faith-based community groups in St. James Parish on grounds that it had not been brought in time.

"Now we can finally get back to the urgent work of addressing the public health emergency caused by the parish's constant and easy approval of every request by any petrochemical company seeking to operate in these majority-Black communities," Pam Spees, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at the Center for Constitutional Rights, said in a statement.

A lawyer for the parish did not respond to a request for comment.

The groups – Inclusive Louisiana, Mt. Triumph Baptist Church and RISE St. James – sued in 2023, alleging that the disproportionate placement of petrochemical plants in majority Black areas violates the U.S. Constitution's 13th Amendment as a vestige of slavery and their equal protection rights under the 14th Amendment.

The lawsuit said no major polluting facilities have been approved by the council in white communities in the parish in 46 years, while dozens of “dangerous and extractive facilities” have been located in Black communities.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier had tossed those and other claims on grounds that the plaintiffs had sued too late over a land use plan the parish adopted in 2014 which categorized two heavily populated districts as "industrial," allowing plants to be built there.

However, U.S. Circuit Judge Carl Stewart, writing for Wednesday's panel, said that the lawsuit was not challenging a discreet government action a decade ago but rather a longstanding pattern and practice of racially discriminatory land use decisions.

Stewart, an appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton, pointed to allegations that fell within the statute of limitations period which were not time-barred concerning actions the parish took in August 2022.

At that time, the organizations alleged in their 2023 lawsuit, the parish declined to issue a moratorium on "polluting industry" in majority-Black communities while granting white residents' request for a moratorium on the solar industry.

"While it is unclear at this pleading stage whether these alleged incidents of discrimination can ultimately prove a violation of the Organizations' constitutional or statutory rights, as alleged they plainly fall within the applicable one-year limitations period," Stewart wrote.

He said the trial judge had also wrongly concluded that the groups lacked standing to pursue claims their religious rights were violated, saying they had raised sufficient allegations that the parish's land use practices restricted their access to the cemeteries of their enslaved ancestors.

His opinion was joined by U.S. Circuit Judges Catharina Haynes, an appointee of Republican President George H.W. Bush, and Patrick Higginbotham, an appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan.

The case is Inclusive Louisiana v. St. James Parrish, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 23-30908.

For the plaintiffs: Pam Spees of Center for Constitutional Rights

For St. James Parrish: Carroll Devillier of Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson

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