Inclusive Louisiana, Mount Triumph Baptist Church, RISE St. James v. St. James Parish, et al
Date Filed:
March 21, 2023
Current Status
Inclusive Louisiana, Mount Triumph Baptist Church, and RISE St. James filed suit in federal district court in New Orleans against St. James Parish on March 21, 2023. On April 9, 2025 U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Plaintiffs' claims to move forward, reversing the District Court decision dismissing the case. The Parish once again moved to dismiss the case. On February 9, 2026, the district court denied the Parish's motion to dismiss and allowed all claims to move forward into discovery.
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Pamela Spees
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Baher Azmy
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Astha Sharma Pokharel
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Celine Zhu
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Kayla Vinson
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Dominic Renfrey
Co-Counsel
Bill Quigley, Cooperating Counsel
Devin Lowell
Clara Potter
Tulane Environmental Law Clinic
Counsel for RISE St. James
Client(s)
Inclusive Louisiana
Mount Triumph Baptist Church
Case Description
Inclusive Louisiana, Mount Triumph Baptist Church, and RISE St. James brought this action against St. James Parish for its decades of environmental racism and discriminatory siting of industrial facilities in predominantly Black communities in the Parish. The lawsuit seeks a moratorium on all new sitings of industrial facilities and expansions of existing facilities, protection of unmarked cemeteries of people once enslaved in the Parish, and a court-monitored process involving directly-affected communities to help assess remediation and guide transformation.
Plaintiffs File Motion for Temporary Restraining Order
June 18, 2026
Plaintiffs File Motion for Temporary Restraining Order
Plaintiffs filed a motion for temporary restraining order to enjoin the Parish from taking further action to implement or give effect to a racially discriminatory ordinance passed by the Parish Council to rezone historic Black cemeteries and properties from agricultural to industrial.
Plaintiffs send urgent legal notice to St. James Parish
June 1, 2026
Plaintiffs send urgent legal notice to St. James Parish
Plaintiffs send a letter urging Parish to withdraw ordinance that would redesignate a large part of Romeville from agricultural to industrial use, threaten legal action if ordinance is not withdrawn
District court allows all claims to proceed
Feb. 9, 2026
District court allows all claims to proceed
The district court denies the parish's motion to dismiss and allows all claims to proceed, including the plaintiffs' claims that the parish's longstanding land use system violates the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, their rights to bodily integrity and property, as well as the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and the right to protect their cultural heritage under the Louisiana Constitution.
Hearing on motion and motion to dismiss in New Orleans, Louisiana
January 28, 2026
Hearing on motion and motion to dismiss in New Orleans, Louisiana
Hearing to be held at 10am at the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, 500 Poydras Street, Courtroom C268, New Orleans, LA.
December 12, 2025
Parish's reply
Defendant files a reply in support of motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint.
Plaintiffs' opposition to Parish's motion to dismiss
December 2, 2025
Plaintiffs' opposition to Parish's motion to dismiss
Plaintiffs file a brief demonstrating why their claims should not be dismissed.
Parish's motion to dismiss
November 18, 2025
Parish's motion to dismiss
Defendant files a motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint.
Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint
November 4, 2025
Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint
Plaintiffs file Second Amended Complaint detailing: additional discriminatory land use decisions made by the Parish, the financial cost to the public of harmful industrial facilities in the Parish, and additional information about who is buried in the Buena Vista Cemetery.
U.S. Supreme Court denies Defendant's petition for writ of certiorari
October 20, 2025
U.S. Supreme Court denies Defendant's petition for writ of certiorari
Court of appeals allows case to move forward
April 9, 2025
Court of appeals allows case to move forward
June 26, 2024
Plaintiffs' reply brief
Plaintiffs file their reply brief responding to defendant St. James Parish's arguments.
Defendant's appellate brief
May 22, 2024
Defendant's appellate brief
St. James Parish files its appellate brief.
Plaintiffs' opening appellate brief
March 21, 2024
Plaintiffs' opening appellate brief
Plaintiff-appellants file their brief appealing the district court's ruling, arguing that the decades-long racial and religious discrimination they face is a continuing violation not barred by the statute of limitations, and that they have standing to assert their right to protect their historic and cultural origins under the Louisiana Constitution and to practice their religion free of government-imposed substantial burdens.
Court's ruling on defendants' motions to strike and dismiss
November 16, 2023
Court's ruling on defendants' motions to strike and dismiss
The federal district court denies defendants' motion to strike the entirety of plaintiffs' complaint but dismisses their ongoing racial and religious discrimination claims as barred by the statute of limitations.
Plaintiffs' opposition to parish's motions to strike and dismiss
August 14, 2023
Plaintiffs' opposition to parish's motions to strike and dismiss
Plaintiffs file a brief demonstrating why their claims should not be dismissed and why the complaint should not be struck because it details the long history of discrimination, which began with slavery, continued through Jim Crow, and today results in majority-Black districts in the parish having among the highest risks of cancer and other illnesses in the country.
July 17, 2023
Amended complaint
June 16, 2023
Parish motion to dismiss
Defendants submit a motion to strike the allegations and dismiss claims.
March 21, 2023
Complaint filed
Plaintiffs sue St. James Parish for its long history of environmental racism and intentional discrimination in the siting of heavy industrial facilities in majority Black parts of the Parish.
