Court docket Guidelines In opposition to New Orleans Mayor Cantrell in Excessive-Profile Stalking Dispute
Court docket Guidelines In opposition to New Orleans Mayor Cantrell in Excessive-Profile Stalking Dispute
Up to date: 10:58 AM CDT Jun 11, 2025
The Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court docket of Attraction has upheld a trial courtroom’s dismissal of Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s stalking petition in opposition to a French Quarter resident, ruling that the mayor’s claims violated the defendant’s First Modification rights and have been correctly dismissed underneath the state’s anti-SLAPP statute. The case stems from an incident on April 7, 2024, when Anne W. Breaud, a resident of the Higher Pontalba Residences, photographed Mayor Cantrell and a member of her safety element eating on a balcony on the Tableau Restaurant throughout the road. A month later, Mayor Cantrell filed a restraining order petition and an official police report alleging that Breaud’s actions amounted to stalking and harassment.Cantrell’s handwritten petition described Breaud as a risk to her security and that of her household, accusing Breaud of “aggressively photographing and harassing” her throughout a personal lunch. The trial courtroom initially issued a brief restraining order however later reversed course. On June 18, 2024, it granted Breaud’s particular movement to strike the petition underneath Louisiana’s anti-SLAPP legislation (La. C.C.P. artwork. 971), which is designed to stop lawsuits that chill free speech in issues of public curiosity. The courtroom awarded Breaud $15,393.52 in lawyer’s charges and prices, prompting Cantrell to attraction.On June 9, 2025, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the decrease courtroom’s ruling, siding with Breaud. The courtroom held that taking pictures of public officers in public areas particularly by somebody in her personal residence falls squarely underneath First Modification protections.The courtroom additional dominated that the mayor didn’t show a authorized foundation for her stalking declare, stating the petition was doubtless “designed to suppress, restrain and prohibit” Breaud’s rights to watch and doc public figures. The appellate courtroom additionally awarded Breaud an extra $8,000 in authorized charges associated to the attraction. As public scrutiny of elected officers intensifies within the digital age, the Cantrell v. Breaud case might stand as a landmark second in defining the authorized protections and limitations surrounding citizen oversight and the appropriate to doc public life.
The Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court docket of Attraction has upheld a trial courtroom’s dismissal of Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s stalking petition in opposition to a French Quarter resident, ruling that the mayor’s claims violated the defendant’s First Modification rights and have been correctly dismissed underneath the state’s anti-SLAPP statute.
The case stems from an incident on April 7, 2024, when Anne W. Breaud, a resident of the Higher Pontalba Residences, photographed Mayor Cantrell and a member of her safety element eating on a balcony on the Tableau Restaurant throughout the road. A month later, Mayor Cantrell filed a restraining order petition and an official police report alleging that Breaud’s actions amounted to stalking and harassment.
Cantrell’s handwritten petition described Breaud as a risk to her security and that of her household, accusing Breaud of “aggressively photographing and harassing” her throughout a personal lunch.
The trial courtroom initially issued a brief restraining order however later reversed course. On June 18, 2024, it granted Breaud’s particular movement to strike the petition underneath Louisiana’s anti-SLAPP legislation (La. C.C.P. artwork. 971), which is designed to stop lawsuits that chill free speech in issues of public curiosity. The courtroom awarded Breaud $15,393.52 in lawyer’s charges and prices, prompting Cantrell to attraction.
On June 9, 2025, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the decrease courtroom’s ruling, siding with Breaud. The courtroom held that taking pictures of public officers in public areas particularly by somebody in her personal residence falls squarely underneath First Modification protections.
The courtroom additional dominated that the mayor didn’t show a authorized foundation for her stalking declare, stating the petition was doubtless “designed to suppress, restrain and prohibit” Breaud’s rights to watch and doc public figures. The appellate courtroom additionally awarded Breaud an extra $8,000 in authorized charges associated to the attraction.
As public scrutiny of elected officers intensifies within the digital age, the Cantrell v. Breaud case might stand as a landmark second in defining the authorized protections and limitations surrounding citizen oversight and the appropriate to doc public life.
