"A 2023 lawsuit by Black residents in Louisiana’s St. James Parish sought to link land-use policies with “Racial Cleansing.” Their appeal could keep the case alive."

"Black residents of Louisiana’s St. James Parish asked a federal appeals court on Monday to overturn a lower court ruling and give them the opportunity to argue at trial that local land-use policies are racist and have concentrated polluting industrial plants in their neighborhoods.

Lawyers representing the groups Inclusive Louisiana and Rise St. James and the Mount Triumph Baptist Church presented oral arguments on Monday before a three-judge panel in New Orleans. They offered details supporting their claims that systemic racism led to land-use policies that directed heavy industry and chemical plants to two predominantly Black parish districts and away from three predominantly white districts.

During the hearing, lawyers representing the parish government defended the decision last year by U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Barbier, whose ruling dismissed the Black residents’ claims in part by saying they had waited too long after a controversial 2014 land-use plan was adopted to file their lawsuit, and that they didn’t have legal standing."

James Bruggers reports for Inside Climate News October 7, 2024. [2]