A Jefferson Parish resident is suing New Orleans and a city police officer, alleging civil rights violations.
Aaron Jude Jordan filed a lawsuit June 4 in U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana against officer Derek Brumfield and the city of New Orleans, alleging retaliatory treatment in May 2014 and June 2015.
According to the complaint, in 2009 Jordan originally was charged with criminal trespass while working as a private investigator examining a case involving nepotism in which a New Orleans judge was later found guilty. The suit says judicial officers were believed to have been “building a family dynasty at the expense of the taxpayers of New Orleans” that “creates an appearance of abuse that undermines public confidence in the judiciary and our elected officials.”
The lawsuit says the case was widely publicized, with an editorial published in the New Orleans Times-Picayune July 26, 2012, and further news coverage April 20, 2013.
According to the suit, Jordan sent correspondence to multiple recipients in summer 2013 and May 2014, containing allegations and opinions. Jordan formed a citizens’ watch group, the suit states, and when he was interviewed by a local television station he was issued an arrest warrant on charges of intentional harassment May 30, 2014. When media reports publicized the warrant, Jordan turned himself in to avoid further embarrassment and was formally arrested and booked June 5, 2014, the suit says.
The plaintiff states his case was handled improperly and the court displayed bias against him in retaliation reflective of internal corruption. He alleges assault, battery, false imprisonment; intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress; and violation of his civil rights.
Jordan seeks actual damages, attorney fees, expenses and court costs. He is represented by attorney Owen Courreges of New Orleans.
U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:15-cv-01922-HGB-DEK.