ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / October 11, 1999

ST. JAMES – In a countermove to St. James Parish Sheriff Willy Martin’sarrest last week of 20 parents at St. James High School, the ConcernedCitizens Committee of St. James Parish filed a lawsuit in federal districtcourt against Martin, school superintendent P. Edward Cancienne and theSt. James Parish School Board. The lawsuit filed on Wednesday by the group’s lawyer, Nelson Taylor, claims that the defendants, “subjected the plaintiffs to illegal and unconstitutional arrests, detentions, physical violence, threats, harassment and interference with the peaceful exercise of constitutionally protected rights of speech, assembly and association. “On the evening of Oct. 1, deputies arrested 15 parents who were carryingsigns and protesting outside of St. James High School. Martin backed upthe action and said the marchers were creating a safety hazard by obstructing traffic on Louisiana Highway 18 and failing to disperse.

The sheriff also invoked the Louisiana statute, LSA-R.S. 14:328, thatmakes it a felony for anyone to interfere or obstruct staff, faculty or students of an educational institution.

The parents have been protesting the transfer of St. James High Schoolprincipal, Ridgely Mitchell, since the opening day of school on Aug. 18. Forseveral weeks after schools opened in St. James parish, parents kept theirchildren out of school. As a result, several parents and students are to beprosecuted for violating the state’s truancy laws.

On the following Monday, Martin told the parents that they could still march, but only in an area across the highway on the levee side. Fiveparents refused to do so, and they were arrested by St. James’ deputies.Taylor, head of the J.K. Haynes Legal Defense Fund says that Martindeprived his clients of their constitutional rights of the First, Fourth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendmentguarantees the right to speech, assembly and petition; the Fourth Amendment protects citizens against unreasonable search and seizure and the 14th Amendment protects all citizen’s rights regardless of race, color or creed.

The lawsuit included Cancienne as a defendant because, “on information and belief, he has authorized and sanctioned the illegal suppression of the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights in conspiracy with Sheriff Willy J. Martinand his employees.” The St. James Parish School Board were also named as defendants for thesame reason.

Cancienne and Martin did not return phone calls and were not available for comment on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also named Elijah Scott Sr., a chief deputy in the Sheriff’soffice who supervised the booking of the arrested parents.

Martin maintains that he never wanted to stop the parents from protesting. He says that the only issue was safety.However, the lawsuit charges that Martin forced the parents to march in an area that “jeopardized their safety.” The parents also claim that theydid not engage in any activity that was a violation of R.S. 14:328.The Concerned Citizens Committee of St. James Parish is asking thecourts to declare the actions of the sheriff’s office to be illegal and unconstitutional, that the statutes R.S. 14:328, R.S. 14:329.3 and 14:329.5are unconstitutional under Louisiana law because they violated First Amendment rights. They are also seeking a permanent injunctionrestraining the sheriff’s office from interfering with the protesters’ right to march and have demonstrations, to stop subjecting marchers to physical violence, threats and harassment, to stop the sheriff from illegal arrests and detention.

The committee is also seeking an undisclosed sum in compensatory and punitive damages.

The first hearing on the lawsuit will be held in federal court in New Orleans on Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Brown Clement.

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