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Louisiana lawmaker proposes bill criminalizing aggressive, reckless throwing from Mardi Gras floats
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BATON ROUGE — A Louisiana state legislator wants to criminalize the aggressive and reckless throwing of items from a parade float following a series of incidents during this year's Mardi Gras.
The bill, HB 397, would levy a fine on any person who "knowingly or negligently" throws objects from a float in a way that could hurt someone.
Rep. Sylvia Taylor's proposed law would levy a $500 for anyone who throws recklessly, with the penalty increasing to a $1,000 fine and up to six months behind bars if injury is actually caused. A $2,000 fine and up to three years in prison are proposed for anyone who causes "serious bodily injury" from parade throwing.
The proposed law from Taylor, a Democrat who represents Reserve, was written following a Feb. 8 incident in New Orleans where riders in the Krewe of Carrollton were removed for aggressively throwing beads, WWL reports.
A toddler was also struck by a wine bottle during Zulu on Mardi Gras day, in addition to riders being removed from the Krewe of Thoth after they were accused of throwing beads aggressively at parade-goers.
Political analyst James Hartman said the new proposal attempts to draw a line between accidents and intentional harm.
“There should be a balance of indemnifying the riders from accidentally injuring somebody and protecting the public from intentional injury,” Hartman said.
Still, he questions how easy the law would be to enforce.
“Proving intent is virtually impossible in a case like this,” Hartman said.
Louisiana law already shields krewes from most civil lawsuits, often referred to as the “Coconut Law.” Parade organizations generally cannot be sued for injuries unless there is deliberate misconduct or gross negligence. The law also states that anyone attending a parade assumes the risk of being hit by traditional throws such as beads, cups, coconuts and doubloons.
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