The first lawsuit stemming from last week's Bourbon Street terror attack has been filed, and more are expected to be filed in the coming days and weeks.
Those suits will argue that negligence by the city of New Orleans, the New Orleans Police Department, and the city's leaders allowed that attack to happen. However, a legal analyst says those lawsuits may not hold water in state court.
"It is a form of qualified immunity," Loyola University law professor Dane Ciolino said to WWL's Tommy Tucker. "You cannot sue a peace officer or a governmental entity that employs a peace officer for damages in a civil suit where the allegation is that the police officer or the city performed some sort of discretionary function in law enforcement in a negligent manner."
Ciolino says under Louisiana law, a person cannot sue a peace officer or a government for civil damages when the allegation is that either was negligent in performing discretionary functions of law enforcement. Ciolino noted that the Louisiana legislature codified this principle of case law into state law in 2024.
"This is a brand new statutory law that couldn't be clear that, simply, there is no lawsuit," Ciolino said. "Simple negligence, even though it had catastrophic consequences in this case, is not something you can bring a civil rights suit to redress those damages."
If the law doesn't allow this kind of case, why are the plaintiffs moving forward with these lawsuits? Ciolino says it could be a case of the plaintiffs and their lawyers throwing a Hail Mary."
"Maybe they're hoping for a change in the law at some point," Ciolino said.
According to Ciolino, most likely recourse in this case would be administrative action brought against police officers for incompetence or dereliction of duty if any investigations warrant those actions.
Ciolino also notes that the law still allows individuals to sue for intentional negligence, such as excessive force.