St. Bernard Parish must pay $123,771.92 in fees and costs to attorneys representing the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) and an individual plaintiff pursuant to a court order issued in Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center v. St. Bernard Parish et al, Case No. 06-7185, United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana. The fees and costs are in addition to the $32,500 previously paid by the Parish as part a Consent Order in settlement of the claim for damages. This brings the total payout by the Parish up to a total of $152,271.92.

The lawsuit was filed in November 2006 and asked the federal court to enjoin St. Bernard Parish from enforcing an ordinance barring single-family homeowners from renting to anyone except blood relatives without the special permission of the Parish Council. GNOFHAC alleged that the ordinance disproportionately excluded minority families seeking housing, and perpetuated the parish’s history as a segregated, predominantly white community.

7-2-08: Read GNO Fair Housing’s press release aqui.

7-3-08: Read the Times Picayune article aqui.

7-8-08: Read the Times Picayune editorial “The Cost of Stubbornness” aqui.

8-27-08: Read the Nation article “New Orleans Redraws Its Color Line” aqui.

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