L'Hote v. New Orleans
Headline: City law limiting where women described as “of lewd character” may live upheld, allowing local governments to zone such residences and rejecting nearby property owners’ constitutional challenge.
Holding: The Court held that New Orleans' ordinance limiting where women described as "of lewd character" may live is a valid exercise of the city's authority to protect public health and morals and does not violate federal constitutional rights.
- Allows cities to restrict where houses of ill fame may be located.
- Makes pecuniary loss to nearby owners insufficient to invalidate police regulations.
- Keeps neighbors' private nuisance claims available even if ordinance stands.
Summary
Background
The dispute involved a New Orleans ordinance that set territorial limits outside of which no woman “of lewd character” was allowed to live. The parties bringing the case are people who own or occupy property in or next to the named area and who argued the rule harmed their property interests. The opinion notes that no woman described by the ordinance was challenging the law, and that owners outside the limits were not claiming loss of a specific tenant.
Reasoning
The central question was whether enforcing the ordinance violated any rights protected by the U.S. Constitution. The Court explained that regulating vocations tied to public health and morals falls within a city or state’s authority to protect the community. Relying on earlier decisions, the Court said courts should not second-guess the legislature’s choice about territorial limits for such activities. The opinion found the ordinance neither banned the vocation outright nor gave it full freedom; it simply confined locations and restrained public manifestations of that activity. The Court also held that incidental pecuniary loss to neighbors does not invalidate police regulations and that the ordinance did not directly burden the plaintiffs’ property, so their federal-constitutional claim failed. The Louisiana Supreme Court’s judgment was affirmed.
Real world impact
The ruling means cities may lawfully designate where certain vice-related residences or businesses may be located. Property owners nearby cannot rely on mere loss in value to stop such local regulations. Neighbors keep ordinary private nuisance remedies if an actual nuisance arises, but they cannot block the ordinance on the grounds described in this case.
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