PO Box 2012 · La Place, LA · 70069 · (888) 503-8463

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOUISIANA’S ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH ENTANGLED IN FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS LAWSUIT. 

            September 11, 2009---La Place, Louisiana.  St. John the Baptist Parish, located in south eastern Louisiana, has been sued in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana for willful violations of the Fair Housing Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and various other federal and state laws, for racially discriminatory housing policies.

            The parties in the suit are: the plaintiff, Jacqueline Patterson Edwards, is an African-American woman, who owns a rental property in La Place, Louisiana; the defendants in the lawsuit are St. John the Baptist Parish, Bill Hubbard, the President of St. John the Baptist Parish and a Code enforcement officer of St. John the Baptist Parish, Debbie Labit Stricks.

            The case arises out of an incident that took place on June 26, 2009, when nine Mexican Americans, who are seasonal employees at a local manufacturing plant, sought to rent the house owned by plaintiff Jacqueline Patterson Edwards.  The prospective tenants never took custody of the house and had only visited the house on one prior occasion. Without any prior discussion with either tenant or landlord, St. John the Baptist Parish code enforcement officer Debbie Labit Stricks, allegedly based on a complaint from someone in the neighborhood about the prospective Mexican tenants, arrived at the house just before the tenants were suppose to take custody of the dwelling.  Code enforcement officer Stricks informed the prospective tenants that they could not move into the house; that the community was zoned for families; that families consisted of mother, father, and child; and therefore they would not be permitted to occupy the rental houses.  Code enforcement officer cited local ordinance R1 to support her contention that the community was zoned for families and the group of workers did not constitute a family, even though, as it was discovered, they were either brothers or first cousins.  Under threat of arrest, the prospective tenants abandoned their hope to rent the house at $1,700 per month; forced instead to rent hotel rooms at $3,000 per week.

            The lawsuit alleges that the local ordinances, as enforced, are discriminatory; that local white homeowners are not subjected to the same enforcement action as minority homeowners; and groups of white residents who do not fit the definition of ‘family’ as the local ordinance purports are allowed to live together. 

            The case is before Judge Carl Barbier of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans, Docket Number 09-cv-04384.  For additional information, please contact Lydia Rivera of A Plus Family Services, Inc. at (888) 503-8463 or visit

http://stjohnparishinfederalcourt.com , a website that has been set up to be a gateway to the lawsuit.

-END-