Just a few posts ago, we put up the Louisiana Supreme Court's opinion in a case where property owners obtained a final inverse condemnation judgment ordering the New Orleans Sewer Board to pay just compensation.
Then...crickets. The sewer board did not satisfy the judgment. It relied on a provision in the Louisiana Constitution that says that the state and local governments don't need to pay civil judgments except when they want to.
The Louisiana Supreme Court didn't see it that way, and held that just compensation is "self executing" and that paying it is a ministerial duty, meaning that no statutory authorization is needed, and mandamus to compel payment is an available remedy for non-payment.
Now, the sewer board has asked the court for a do-over. In its motion for rehearing, it asserts that that earlier federal litigation is res judicata and already resolved the issue (although that case only held that a federal civil rights claim was not available, at least absent a showing that state law mandamus is not a viable remedy, which it turned out to be).
Perhaps the oddest -- or most chutzpah-y -- claim the sewerage board makes is that it is ready to pay up ... if only you gave us more time!
In truth, Korban and the SWB have been chronologically paying judgments, consistent with the SWB’s policy. Some of Plaintiffs were next in line to be addressed pursuant to the SWB’s policy and an offer of settlement would have been made promptly even in the absence of this litigation.
Br. at 7.
Come on, man, we're getting to it!
If you want to read more, here are the briefs:
Stay tuned.
Plaintiffs-Respondents' Brief in Opposition to Application for Rehearing, Watson Memorial Spiritual Temple...
