A suburban enclave of Baton Rouge has won the right to split off from the rest of the crime-infested Louisiana city.
St. George will now separate from Baton Rouge and form its own city.
The Louisiana Supreme Court granted approval to establish the city of St. George.
The move realizes the hopes of locals frustrated with crime and bad schooling in Democrat-led Baton Rouge.
The movement began years ago with plans to start a new school district.
It eventually expanded into a full-blown campaign for independence.
The new city, situated in southeast Baton Rouge, will have a population of roughly 100,000.
St. George’s advocates fought a long battle.
An initial proposal to create the city failed to reach the ballot in 2015 but was successful when finally put to a vote in 2019.
What followed was a racially polarizing legal battle.
Baton Rouge’s Democrat Mayor Sharon Weston Broome complained that the new city would drain $48 million in tax revenue from the predominantly black city.
But the state’s Supreme Court narrowly rejected the mayor’s economic projections Friday in a 4-3 ruling.
Mayor Broome said she is focused on healing tensions after the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“My goal from the very beginning