Linklaters, American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana (ACLU), and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFK) filed a second lawsuit against St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office (STPSO) deputies, as well as several members of the agency’s leadership, that challenges STPSO’s pattern and practice of racial profiling and unconstitutional searches of Black individuals, as well as its approval of the violations of Mr. Bruce Washington’s rights during a pretextual traffic stop.
On the night of January 13, 2023, Mr. Washington, a 55-year-old Black man and resident of Bogalusa, Louisiana, was driving to New Orleans to go visit his girlfriend for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday weekend when STPSO officers pulled him over to the shoulder of a dark and low-trafficked road. After the officers informed Mr. Washington that they only intended to give him a warning for an alleged traffic offense, the three officers unlawfully extended the stop by continuously questioning Mr. Washington, as well as searching him, his possessions, and his vehicle without his consent or probable cause.
The incident is but one of three separate encounters where STPSO officers have violated Mr. Washington’s constitutional rights. He was previously stopped and searched in March 2021, and stopped yet again in October 2023. He had already filed a lawsuit for the first incident when the second and third incidents took place. The first lawsuit overcame summary judgment and the Defendant’s appeal to the Fifth Circuit. Trial is set for October 21, 2024.
At the core of the new lawsuit is STPSO’s pattern of racially discriminatory traffic stops, searches, and seizures. It asserts violations of Mr. Washington’s rights under the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, Article 1 Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Louisiana state common and statutory laws. It also asserts claims against the STPSO for its ratification of the officers’ unconstitutional conduct, racial profiling, and failure to supervise and train its officers in the parameters of constitutional searches despite its knowledge of their unconstitutional conduct.
Elizabeth Raulston, Linklaters Senior Associate, commented: “We are proud to continue working with the ACLU’s Justice Lab in combatting ongoing unconstitutional policing and racial profiling in Louisiana. That we’re now doing so in connection with three separate incidents involving STPSO’s unconstitutional stops of Mr. Washington is clearly not a coincidence.”
Prior to filing the second lawsuit, the ACLU of Louisiana conducted a demographic analysis of traffic stop data obtained via multiple rounds of public records requests to the STPSO. Findings showed that from January through November of 2023, Black individuals in St. Tammany Parish were 250% more likely to be stopped for alleged traffic violations than white individuals. And while only 15% of the Parish’s residents identify as Black, these individuals account for 36% of the people stopped for alleged traffic violations and 26% of the people cited for those violations.
“STPSO deputies’ use of the same coercive procedures over Mr. Washington a mere three weeks after his triumphant defeat of qualified immunity in his first lawsuit shows that the Sheriff has no intention of addressing these pernicious practices absent court intervention,” said Linklaters Associate Zoë Lillian, who is currently on secondment at the ACLU of Louisiana. “Linklaters is committed to supporting Mr. Washington‘s advocacy for his constitutional rights and those of all other citizens of St. Tammany Parish who experience similar racial profiling on a regular basis.”
The Linklaters U.S. team on this case includes Senior Associates Elizabeth Raulston and Charlene Valdez Warner, Associates Zoë Lillian, Lillian Childress, Nirajé Medley-Bacon, Stephanie Odigie, Nicolle Sayers, Chloe Shostak, Katherine Rumer, Maria Vaz Ferreira, and Nina Zegarra-Schmidt, and paralegals Casey Bell, Lescene Gibbons, and Lucia Joseph. Partner Adam Lurie is supervising the team on this case.
Linklaters continues to support the ACLU of Louisiana through the firm’s Social Impact program, through which the firm deploys the strengths of lawyers and business staff to bring about positive change through legal pro bono as well as non-legal volunteering and charitable donations. Learn more about Linklaters’ Social Impact program.
