A group of attorneys at Kelley Drye is working in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) of Louisiana, a relationship that stemmed from Kelley Drye’s Task Force on Racial Justice. The team is representing a local activist in a civil rights action against several city officials of Lafayette, including the mayor, sheriff, and police officers involved in her arrest.
In 2020, our client hosted a small barbeque on a public street near the mayor’s house in the hopes of having a peaceful discussion with the mayor about the racial tensions in Lafayette stemming from the police killing of Mr. Trayford Pellerin. In doing so, our client was exercising her First Amendment rights to free speech, assembly, and petition the government.
The mayor subsequently called the police and our client was arrested without probable cause for obstructing traffic even though she was near the sidewalk and numerous cars drove by on the street during the arrest. She was placed in the local jail, in violation of the jail’s policy not to book non-violent offenders, and judicial orders. And, after being released, our client attended a public meeting where she questioned the mayor about his COVID-19 policies. The mayor then worked with the local district attorney to charge and prosecute our client for the unfounded obstruction charge in retaliation for her decision to question him, as is her constitutional right to do so, at the public meeting.
The team believes that the mayor’s actions were a “clear abuse of authority” and they support our client’s actions to stand up to the mayor’s unconstitutional overreach. They “stand with her.”
“Kelley Drye stands by her fight because the right to protest and peacefully assemble is essential to a functioning democracy.”
