A federal jury has rejected allegations by an environmental and racial justice advocate in St. John the Baptist Parish that parish elected leaders violated her free speech rights and the state’s open-meeting law during a public meeting in 2023.
Plaintiff Dr. Joy Banner, co-founder of The Descendants Project, filed her lawsuit in the Eastern District of Louisiana after she was interrupted while trying to make a public comment at a St. John the Baptist Parish Council meeting. Banner wanted to speak about an agenda item proposed by parish President Jaclyn Hotard to spend taxpayer funds to defend Hotard against an ethics probe.
Both Hotard and Council Chairman Michael Wright interrupted Banner, directed her to stop talking and threatened her with prosecution if she continued her comments at the Nov. 28, 2023, council meeting, according to Banner's lawsuit. Hotard and Wright were defendants in Banner’s lawsuit.
But jurors concluded that Banner had been able to express much of her viewpoint. Others at the meeting said Banner was repeatedly told to stay on topic.
In their verdict form, the jurors concluded that the defendants did not restrict the plaintiff’s speech based on her viewpoint and had not engaged in First Amendment retaliation. And none of the defendants violated the open-meeting law, according to the jurors, who awarded no damages or civil penalties.
Banner and The Descendants Projects gained national attention for opposing an $800 million grain elevator project in the parish and arguing that the project would have a negative impact on public health and cultural resources in the parish. The developer eventually pulled out of the grain elevator project.
In her lawsuit against the parish and parish elected officials, Banner pointed out that she filed the ethics charge against Hotard because the parish president signed an application that aimed to rezone formerly residential land as industrial to accommodate the grain elevator project. Hotard’s mother-in-law is an officer for Gaumet Holdings LLC, which owns property within and adjacent to the land the parish was planning to rezone as industrial, Banner’s legal complaint states.
The lawsuit alleges that the state’s Code of Ethics barred Hotard from taking part in the rezoning of property managed by her mother-in-law.
Banner’s attorney, William Most of Most & Associates, said he is evaluating options to appeal the jury’s decision.
“Regardless of the outcome in court, this case was a success at revealing parish President Hotard's secret: that her own husband had a financial interest in the $800 million project that Hotard was using her official position to push," Most told the Louisiana Record in an email.
Defendant Wright, however, said in a statement to The Associated Press that the jurors’ conclusion sent a message that frivolous lawsuits should not be tolerated.
“This is a significant victory for St. John Parish and a promising sign for businesses and industries considering the River Parishes as their home,” Wright said.
Banner wanted to use her public comment time during the November 2023 meeting to argue that the use of taxpayer funds to hire private defense counsel for Hotard was improper.
The judge in the case, Nannette Jolivette Brown, said in a judgment this week that all claims raised by Banner would be dismissed with prejudice and that each side would pay its own legal fees.