Louisiana Voice

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of Dr. Joy Banner, co-founder of the nonprofit The Descendants Project, in her free-speech case against St. John the Baptist Parish officials.

The case involves a November 28, 2023 Parish Council meeting where Banner tried to speak during a public comment period. Parish President Jaclyn Hotard claimed Banner was breaking the law with her words, and Parish Council Chair Michael Wright threatened Banner with imprisonment under a criminal statute.

Notably, the statute that the officials threatened Banner with had been declared unconstitutional nine years earlier, and ironically, Wright at the time was even reading from a copy of the law that said “Unconstitutional” at the top.

When she was silenced, Banner was attempting to address the impropriety of President Hotard using taxpayer money for a private attorney to defend herself against ethics charges. It was later revealed that Hotard’s husband had a secret financial interest in an $800 million dollar grain elevator project that Hotard was promoting as Parish President.

At a FEDERAL TRIAL regarding the free-speech issues last January, the parish officials’ lawyer engaged in a range of conduct that the trial court judge determined to have “repeatedly crossed the bounds of proper advocacy.” At the end of the trial, the jury decided in favor of the parish officials and against Banner.

It remains something of a mystery how a court could allow a verdict against freedom of speech to stand when the verdict is based on a law that has long since been held unconstitutional.

But as the Fifth Circuit ruled on Friday, the “sheer volume of misconduct in which defendants engaged at every stage of trial casts a pall over the jury’s deliberations.” The Fifth Circuit condemned “defendants’ egregious behavior at trial,” and noted that regardless of “of how frequently and aggressively the court declared these prejudicial subjects to be out of bounds, defendants petulantly persisted in tainting the jury with their barrage of ill-conceived statements.”

The Fifth Circuit observed that “you can throw a skunk into the jury box and instruct the jurors not to smell it, but it doesn’t do any good.” The Fifth Circuit granted Banner a new trial.

Upon learning of the ruling, Banner said, “This win is momentous for me and many in the community who’ve had our rights blocked and our freedom disregarded. The judges demonstrated their commitment to justice by ensuring that my rights, the court, and the law are all respected.”

Her attorney, William Most, said, “We are so proud to represent a client who has the courage to stand up to repeated misconduct by government officials, and we look forward to vindicating her rights in court.”

Banner and her sister Jo are co-founders of THE DESCENDANTS PROJECT established to protect the community against industrial encroachment and to protect the health of area residents. Woodland Plantation was where the largest slave revolt in North American history on Jan. 8, 1811, ignited. In 2024, the Banner sisters, through The Descendants Project, PURCHASED THE PLANTATION.