NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans tour guide operators plan to take their fight for access to the historic St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The cemetery on Basin Street is a popular attraction among tourists because of its unique tombs and because it is the final resting place of people like Marie Laveau and Homer Plessy.
However, in 2021 the Archdiocese of New Orleans which owns and operates the cemetery restricted visitation to only immediate family members of those buried there and an exclusive tour guide company, Tours NOLA, which is owned by French Quarter hotelier Michael Valentino.
Several local tour operators filed a lawsuit, saying the restrictions violated state and federal antitrust laws and equated to price fixing.
Last summer, a federal appeals court dismissed the tour operators’ lawsuit.
David Nance, the lawyer representing the tour operators says they plan to appeal the court’s ruling to the supreme court.
“I was really disappointed,” said David Nance, an attorney who represents the aggrieved tour group operators tells our partners at The Times-Picayune. “If the facts and law are against you, your only defense is to use procedure and that is what we have been dealing with.”
Nance recognizes appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court is a longshot.
“Cemeteries do not have a right to monetize access because they do not have a right to control access,” Nance tells the news outlet. “The state and city are supposed to protect peoples’ right to get into these cemeteries."
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