The Lafayette Public Library board may have missed an opportunity to settle a federal First Amendment lawsuit that has already cost more than $100,000 in legal fees, our media partners at The Advocate report.
The library board on Monday sided with former board president Robert Judge over its attorney's advice, refusing to enter an executive session to discuss a settlement offer that would have waived the legal fees, dropped everyone from the lawsuit except Judge and prevented Judge from voting on matters involving the lawsuit, the newspaper reported.
Lynette Mejia and Melanie Brevis, founders of Lafayette Citizens Against Censorship, in March 2023 sued in federal court Lafayette Consolidated Government, Judge, current board president Daniel Kelly, Sheriff Mark Garber and two of his deputies hired as guards for a library board meeting where Brevis was escorted from the speaker's podium on Judge's order.
After the meeting Monday, Mejia said the board "is in breach of their fiscal duty to the citizens of Lafayette Parish" because taxpayers will be burdened with hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, The Advocate reports.
"Once again this board has put personal political interests above what's best for our library," she said.
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