A judge in Louisiana has temporarily blocked further efforts by state officials to clear homeless encampments in New Orleans — stalling a push that came ahead of three Taylor Swift concerts in the city this weekend. The effort to relocate about 75 people living in tents beneath an overpass near the Superdome began in the days leading up to pop star's shows, which could draw 150,000 visitors to the stadium. Judge Lori Jupiter granted a temporary restraining order on Friday, directing state law enforcement officials to not “destroy or dispose of the property of unhoused people without judicial process” and to notify people in the “state sanctioned camp” that they are “free to leave.
” The order is in effect until Nov. 4. The judge's ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by homeless people who were subject to the sweep.
In legal filings, they argued that state troopers violated their constitutional rights by illegally searching, seizing and destroying their property, disposing of their prized possessions and “forcibly herding” them away. According to the lawsuit, a legal observer overheard state troopers saying “the governor wants you to move because of the Taylor Swift concert.” State officials have said the residents were being moved to a new location about two blocks away, where unhoused people living in the tourist-heavy French Quarter neighborhood would also be moved.
A spokesperson for Gov. Jeff Landry has said that the effort was meant to address.