State police again barred from homeless sweeps amid effort to clear French Quarter

2nd December 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Katie Jane Fernelius
Contributing Writer

(Veritenews.org) — An Orleans Parish judge on Monday (Nov. 25) issued a temporary restraining order against the Louisiana State Police, days after state troopers distributed flyers to homeless residents in the French Quarter warning them to vacate or else face legal action.

The order by Judge Ethel Julien bars state troopers and two other state agencies from engaging in sweeps of unhoused residents or seizures of their property. The order follows a request from two unhoused residents, Raymond Scott and Amanda Alfred, who are being represented by civil rights attorneys.

“LSP has promptly halted activities and is complying with the restrictions imposed by the [order],” Louisiana State Police spokesperson Kate Stegall said in an email. “Our department cannot provide further information while the [order] is in litigation.”

The Mayor’s Office, the State Attorney General’s office and Gov. Jeff Landry’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Verite News.

This is the second restraining order filed against Troop NOLA – a contingent of state police operating in the city – in as many months.

In October, ahead of three nights of Taylor Swift concerts at the Superdome, state troopers swept an encampment along Calliope Street against the wishes of city officials, who said the action would hamper their long-term plans to find housing for unhoused residents.

The city and the State Police do not have a formal agreement dictating the terms of their relationship. At the time, the State Police argued that the sweeps were within their jurisdiction because the encampments were located under state-owned highways.

Days later, a judge ordered the State Police to halt the sweeps after Scott and Alfred filed suit against the state police. But that order expired, and the judge chose not to issue a long-term order, siding with state attorneys who argued that it was not necessary because the sweeps had already been completed.

A little over a week after that decision, state troopers began distributing the notices across the French Quarter.

“Despite a seemingly productive dialogue among State and City partners about effective ways to collaborate on homelessness, the State is set to move forward with another round of sweeps,” Councilmember Lesli Harris said in a statement on Friday (Nov. 22).

Earlier Monday (Nov. 25) morning, state troopers had spanned out across the Quarter to speak with unhoused residents. They pressed residents on how they planned to comply with the notice to vacate and where they planned to go outside of the French Quarter.

One unhoused resident in a wheelchair convinced the troopers he didn’t need to go to their state-sanctioned encampment on Earhart Boulevard, across from the Home Depot, because he would relocate to the 7th Ward, where a friend lived.

A state trooper told Verite News that he was instructed to advise people on where to go and help transport them there, not to remove or destroy their belongings forcibly.

However, the temporary restraining order, which came midday, ended those efforts – until Dec. 3, when a court hearing on the matter was scheduled.

According to one observer, state troopers were swarming Latrobe Park near the French Market when the order was issued. Upon hearing of the order, the officers piled into their SUVs and drove off.

This article originally published in the December 2, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.

Tags:  French Quarter, Homeless sweeps, State Police