Source: Giles Clarke / Getty
A federal appellate court in New Orleans will hear oral arguments Monday in a civil rights lawsuit against a south Louisiana parish that allegedly engaged in racist land-use policies, according to AP .
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal will review a lawsuit filed by three New Orleans community groups, Inclusive Louisiana, Rise St. James and Mt. Triumph Baptist Church. The groups claim that St. James Parish “intentionally discriminated against Black residents” by allowing industrial companies to build their facilities in areas with predominantly Black populations “while explicitly sparing white residents from the risk of environmental harm,” according to the suit.
When plaintiffs filed the complaint in March 2023, they argued that 20 of the 24 industrial facilities were located in two parts of the parish that were majority Black. The parish is known by many environmental groups as “Cancer Alley” because it’s located near a heavily industrialized stretch of the Mississippi River, which has high levels of suspected cancer-causing pollution.