Theslet Benoir and Clemene Bastien are a married couple that immigrated to the United States from Haiti in 2005. They received asylum, settled in Parksley, Virginia, and opened a brick-and-mortar store that caters to the needs of the Eastern Shore’s Haitian population. But the town repeatedly...
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Virginia food truck owners file federal lawsuit after raging town councilmember damaged truck, town council repeatedly harassed them
Government officials are not allowed to pursue personal vendettas or retaliate against people for criticizing their policies. But that is precisely what is happening in the town of Parksley on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, where out-of-control bureaucrats have done everything in their power to target and eliminate the town’s first—and only—food truck simply because they dislike its owners and the fact that they dared to work with the Institute for Justice to call for the repeal of the town’s unconstitutional food truck ban.
Theslet Benoir and Clemene Bastien are a married couple that immigrated to the United States from Haiti two decades ago. They settled in Parksley, where they opened a brick-and-mortar store that caters to the needs of the Eastern Shore’s Haitian population. Last June, Theslet and Clemene expanded their business by opening the Eben-Ezer Haitian Food Truck—the town’s first. They parked the food truck on their own private property next to their store and began selling beloved Haitian dishes.
This did not sit well with Parksley Councilmember Henry Nicholson. Soon after the food truck opened, Nicholson berated Theslet and Clemene for opening a business that he saw as a threat to nearby restaurants. He also admitted to cutting the food truck’s water line, rendering it inoperable until Theslet and Clemene could pay someone to repair the damage. And while trying to prevent groceries from being delivered to the food truck a few days later, Nicholson screamed at Clemene: “Go back to your own country!”
When Nicholson’s attempts at intimidation failed to dissuade Theslet and Clemene from pursuing their American Dream, Nicholson and other members of Parksley’s town council passed a sweeping ordinance that banned all food trucks from operating within the town outside of special events. Despite the ban, the mayor publicly stated that Parksley would allow Theslet and Clemene to continue selling food until their one-year business license expired in May 2024.
At Theslet and Clemene’s behest, the Institute for Justice (IJ) sent a letter to the Parksley Town Council urging it to repeal the ban. The very next day, the town’s attorney sent a letter threatening to throw Theslet and Clemene in jail. Backtracking on its promise to let the food truck stay open until May, Parksley’s government told Theslet and Clemene that they had been committing criminal misdemeanors each day the food truck was in business. To avoid hefty fines and years behind bars, the town commanded Theslet and Clemene to immediately cease and desist operating their food truck. Terrified, they did what the government demanded.
But Theslet and Clemene have had enough. That’s why they teamed up with IJ to file a federal lawsuit to vindicate their First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Enraged town officials can’t take the law into their own hands, damaging private property in the process. And the government can’t retaliate against its citizens for taking steps to petition for a change in the law, threatening them with imprisonment for voicing their concerns. Victory for Theslet and Clemene will mean victory for Americans everywhere who face arbitrary and vindictive punishment simply for exercising their right to earn a living and their right to question the government’s policy.