Amid evictions of unhoused people from encampments in public spaces in New Orleans, the Southern Poverty Law Center joined a case to protect unhoused people from this effort by state authorities.
Ahead of major events held at the Caesars Superdome in October and November 2024, the Louisiana State Police and the stateās Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Department of Transportation and Development cleared unhoused people from multiple encampments in high-traffic tourism areas of New Orleans. Agents swept the sites, evicting and displacing people living in the encampments. Agents also seized and destroyed their property without adequate notice.
An emergency petition for injunctive relief and request for temporary restraining order was initially filed by Most & Associates law firm on Oct. 25, 2024, seeking to prevent authorities from conducting these sweeps. The Orleans Civil District Court granted a temporary restraining order. The defendants later submitted an answer to the emergency petition on Oct. 31, 2024. At a hearing on Nov. 12, 2024, the court denied plaintiffsā preliminary injunction request, deeming it moot on the defendantsā assurances that the sweep operations had ceased.
However, the SPLC and the MacArthur Justice Center joined Most & Associates as co-counsel to file an emergency amended petition for injunctive relief and request for temporary restraining order on Nov. 25, 2024. The Orleans Civil District Court granted the SPLC and its co-counselās request for a temporary restraining order and later a preliminary injunction against the state police and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, which prevents these agencies from conducting more sweeps without constitutional protections while the lawsuit is pending.
