Court finds lawsuit plausibly alleges St. James Parish’s discriminatory land use system has roots in slavery, violates the Constitution

February 9, 2026, New Orleans – A federal district court today ruled that groups representing residents of Louisiana’s Cancer Alley can proceed with their landmark lawsuit seeking a moratorium on toxic industrial plants in two majority-Black districts. The court said the plaintiffs can move forward with all their claims – including the claims that the parish’s decades-old land use practices violate the Thirteenth Amendment as a vestige of slavery and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

Inclusive Louisiana, Mt. Triumph Baptist Church, and RISE St. James sued St. James Parish in 2023 for its pattern and practice of steering toxic plants into the majority-Black 4th and 5th Districts. Since construction of the first plant in the Parish in 1958, at least 28 out of 32 plants have been placed in the 4th and 5th Districts. No facility has been allowed to locate in majority-white parts of the Parish in nearly 50 years. In the now-industrialized areas of the Parish, dubbed “sacrifice zones,” residents face elevated risks of cancer, respiratory ailments, and newborn health harms.

“Today’s ruling is a historic step toward justice for the people of St. James Parish,” said Gail LeBoeuf and Barbara Washington, Founders of Inclusive Louisiana, in a joint statement. “For generations, our community has lived under a racist land use system that placed polluting industries in our backyards while ignoring our health, history, and human rights. The court’s decision to allow every one of our claims to move forward affirms what we have long known: environmental racism is real, and it must be confronted. This fight has always been about protecting our families, honoring our ancestors, and ensuring a future where our children can breathe clean air and live with dignity. We are grateful the court has recognized the seriousness of these harms, and we will continue pushing forward until true justice is achieved.”

This was St James Parish’s second failed attempt to get the case dismissed. In April 2025, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the lawsuit could proceed, rejecting the lower court's decision that pegged the case to a 2014 zoning ordinance and found that the statute of limitations had expired. Like the Fifth Circuit, the district court today agreed with the plaintiffs that that scope of the suit extended well beyond the ordinance to include a decades-old and still-existing discriminatory practice. The district court also agreed with the plaintiffs that what they challenge is “a land use pattern that quite literally originated in slavery,” and that “Plaintiffs tell the story of how plantations gave way to industrial facilities that now endanger [B]lack residents’ health, negatively impact their quality of life, and desecrate the unmarked cemeteries of their ancestors.”

“This historic decision recognizes what is at stake in this case: a discriminatory land use system and public health emergency that originated in slavery,” said Astha Sharma Pokharel, an attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights representing Inclusive Louisiana and Mount Triumph Baptist Church. “We are ready to begin discovery, take testimony, and get the relief that our clients are entitled to – an end to the siting of toxic plants in their historic Black communities.”

Filed on the plaintiffs’ behalf by lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Environmental Law Clinic at Tulane, the lawsuit also documents how the Parish’s land use practices have led to the destruction of residents’ cultural origins, including ancestral burial grounds of people enslaved in the Parish. It cites the state constitution, which recognizes the “right of the people to preserve, foster, and promote their respective historic linguistic and cultural origins.” 

“We are grateful for this ruling. It is the right decision for the people,” said Pastor Joseph of Mount Triumph Baptist Church. “This case is about the people who have been impacted by this for so long. We deserve this and we thank God that the judge understood what we have been saying for so many years.”

“How many of us have to die? This ruling affirms what we know in our hearts and our faith: God did not create our communities to be sacrificed,” said Sharon C. Lavigne of RISE St. James. “Our prayers, our ancestors, and our fight for justice have been heard. We will keep standing for life, dignity, and the sacredness of this land.”

“This is an important victory for our clients and their communities,” said Isabelle Adoue, a student attorney with the Environmental Law Clinic at Tulane. “The court has cleared the way for our clients’ claims to move forward. St. James Parish will now have to answer for the serious generational harms that our clients have alleged.”

For more information on the lawsuit, please see the Center for Constitutional Rights’ case page. 

See more about Inclusive Louisiana and the Center for Constitutional Rights on the groups’ websites. Mount Triumph Baptist Church and RISE St. James are also plaintiffs in the case.