Terrebonne's former Black District Attorney argued against racism in U.S. Supreme Court

A home on the East Side of Houma has ties to Terrebonne's historic Black District Attorney who argued against racism at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Born in 1845 to Francois Snaer and Emiren Beluche, Former District Attorney Seymour Renee Snaer's 40-year lifespan saw him spend time in New Orleans, Houma, Bayou Blue, and New Iberia. Documents obtained from the Terrebonne Parish Courthouse reveal that 8338 Main St. was once owned by Snaer, and today is owned by Jonathan Foret, founder of Rougarou Fest.

"That's insane," Foret said. "People say it's haunted, and look, if I was Seymour Snaer, a brilliant attorney for Civil Rights, and the people did me wrong like that and sent me to an asylum ... I'd want to haunt the place too."

Who was Snaer?

Appointed Dec. 9, 1876, Snaer was District Attorney of the 15th Judicial District which included Terrebonne, Lafourche, and Assumption parishes during Reconstruction. He later became district attorney for the 19th Judicial District in the 1880's which was Terrebonne and St. Mary parishes.

In a single year, 1873, he passed the Louisiana Bar, represented a Creole women in the U.S. Supreme Court, and in a separate case got a confession from a man allegedly involved in his brother's murder.

His final years were tragic for such a successful attorney. Arrested in New Orleans in 1880, numerous locals signed a petition to have his district attorney status stripped, and two doctors testified he had a bout of mania for which he would never recover. He was placed in an asylum, December 1880.

Hall V. DeCuir, and separate but equal

Snaer was one of two attorneys handling the estates of Josephine DeCuir, a wealthy Creole woman married to Antoine DeCuir, a freed Black man. She lived in France during the Civil War, and when her husband died after the war, she moved back to Louisiana. The two owned the Austerlitz Plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish, and she was going there to meet with Snaer and handle the succession.

Traveling by steamboat on the Mississippi River, July 20, 1872, Captain John G. Benson denied her access to the cabin and instead confined her to the "bureau." The bureau was beneath the area white passengers would travel and used exclusively for "people of color." Insulted, she instead sat on the back of the boat in a chair for the entire night.

Snaer took up the case, and DeCuir was awarded $1,000 based on Louisiana's Civil Rights Laws and the victory was upheld in the Louisiana Supreme Court. The case was appealed and went before the United States Supreme Court where Snaer's argument can be found in court records.

"With what reason or propriety can the courts, which are but the creatures of the law, refuse to yield obedience to the requirements of that constitutional power upon which alone they must depend for existence… The constitutions are the supreme laws of the land, and good government requires that every officer and every citizen should act accordingly," Snaer said. "It is true that whenever mere legislative enactments are unconstitutional the courts should so declare them… But the constitution is the only limitation to legislative power, and I am not aware that customs ever have, in any country, been deemed of such high authority as to supersede the behest of even the common law."

He lost, and the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed the State Court's decision. Chief Justice Morrison Waite ruled that Louisiana's Civil Rights Laws conflicted with federal authority over interstate commerce. The case was argued on April 17, 1877, and decided on January 14, 1878, it was the first time the U.S. Supreme Court dealt with segregation on transporters of people or goods, and some legal experts argue Hall v. DeCuir was one case that led to Plessy v. Ferguson.

Plessy v. Ferguson was the Supreme Court ruling that allowed separate-but-equal accommodations.

His brother's murder

Snaer's older brother and Justice of the Peace Alexandria Snaer, was murdered July 4, 1873, five miles from New Iberia. A Coroner's Jury Investigation took place in Snaerville shortly thereafter. During the investigation Seymour Snare questioned a man identified as Polycarp.

A Coroner's Jury Investigation does not determine guilt or innocence but instead reviews the evidence.

Prior to Seymour's questioning, Polycarp denied all knowledge of the murder, but during Seymour's questioning his version of events changed. News accounts vary with some saying Polycarp took part in the murder, others say he testified that he did not, but in all versions, he identified three others.

The confession was enough for the locals. Seeking justice they rallied into an angry mob. Seymour Snaer protected Polycarp, but the other three were hung by the mob from a tree on the eastern side of Bayou Teche.

His final years

Snaer was later imprisoned in New Orleans for unclear reasons, and was later transferred to an asylum called The Louisiana Retreat, in December 1880. More than 20 signatures were gathered to remove Snaer from his position as district attorney, and two practicing doctors testified that Snaer was insane.

Judge Emeritus Jude Fanguy is studying the time period to work on a book about the shifting Judicial Districts and read over the case.

He explained that Taylor Beattie who represented Snaer was a prominent lawyer in Lafourche. Beattie was also later the judge whose actions are reported to have led to the Thibodaux Massacre of 1887.

According to Fanguy, Beattie questioned the legitimacy of the petitioners' status as residents.

"I found it interesting because half of those people were naturalized citizens, you know they come from Germany, Alsace-Lorraine, Switzerland, and a whole bunch of other places," Fanguy said. "They had a hearing to determine if all of these people were legitimate naturalized citizens… if they actually resided in St. Mary Parish, if they were registered voters, and if they had signed the petition."

The members who signed the petition were all from St. Mary Parish, none from Terrebonne. In the 1890's the areas Snaer represented changed from the 15th Judicial District to the 19th Judicial District. This changed them from Lafourche, Terrebonne, and Assumption to Terrebonne and St. Mary.

Judge F. S. Goode ruled that Snaer was insane and stripped of office on March 22, 1881.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Terrebonne's former Black District Attorney argued at Supreme Court