The eviction notice stuck to Lesley Wilson’s door, with two streaks of green tape and a hand-scrawled note, was left at a precise moment of crisis in her life. It was April 2025 and Wilson, a 54-year-old mother of six, was living with her partner and her 11-year-old granddaughter named Kat in a stilted bungalow, surrounded by sugar cane fields and a small trailer park. She loved the peace and quiet of the place, about 10 miles from the rural city of New Iberia in southern Louisiana.
A crawfish pond was a short walk away. But the night before the notice was stuck to the door, her partner became abusive again, she told police. She called 911 multiple times, and she and her granddaughter cowered inside a locked room, according to interviews and her statement to police.
My brain just shuts down.” He eventually agreed to leave their home, a police report confirms. The following morning she obtained a temporary protective order to keep him away. As she returned from court, she was met with the eviction notice that Kat plucked from the door.
The handwritten note cited the reason as “disturbing the neighbors + fighting”. Louisiana’s Violence Against Women Act, passed in 2015, limits landlords’ ability to evict victims of domestic violence, mirroring similar protections in federal law. But, Wilson said, despite her presenting the temporary order to her landlord, he made clear he wanted her gone.
Across rural Louisiana, dozens of justices of the peace courts operate on the fringes of judicial formality. These elected justices, who are required only to hold a high school education and be of “good moral character”, are allowed by law to hold court in unconventional venues. They are required to complete 16 hours of training every two years.
Many do not even comply with this basic requirement, a Guardian investigation has found. Because operating expenses for these low-profile courts are paid with court fees, hearings can be held in almost any venue, except for those that sell alcohol. A small office next to a roadside daiquiri bar.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
