A federal judge in New Orleans held on Tuesday that Jefferson Parish authorities did not violate the constitutional right to travel of two African American Hurricane Katrina evacuees when they prevented them from crossing the Mississippi River into Jefferson Parish, a mostly white community. The evacuees had been stuck in the New Orleans convention center with no food and water and alleged they were told to cross the bridge. Police authorities claimed that they later blocked travel over the bridge because of the lack of supplies and services available on the other side. National civil rights groups alleged racism and held marches across the bridge. The evacuees brought the lawsuit in December 2005.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana held that the issue of whether the authorities’ actions were proper or based on good judgment was not before the court. The judge stated that while the constitution establishes the right to interstate travel, the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to decide whether it protects the right to intrastate travel. The ruling also rejected the evacuees’ request that their claims be given class action status to represent others who were blocked from crossing the bridge due to their failure to bring such request within the required legal timeframe. 

A similar federal lawsuit is pending in which the plaintiffs have met the deadline for requesting class action status. Criminal investigations of the bridge blockade have also been ongoing.

Source: http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/51/04-03-2007/b9f4000a650b996e.html