“New Orleans never was tighter”: Jim Garrison’s Gendered Vice Campaign in New Orleans, 1962-1966

Most historical writing and research on Jim Garrison’s political career focus on his investigation of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and Garrison’s prosecution of Clay Shaw. Few scholars examine the years prior to the investigation when Garrison served as District Attorney of New Orleans. In 1962, Garrison won the election for District Attorney in part for his pledge to clean up the French Quarter of its lurid reputation. Garrison’s vice crusade targeted mostly women who symbolized the city's colorful reputation. Aided by his office and the vice squad, he raided the French Quarter to arrest prostitutes, strippers, and anyone associated with these women’s work. This thesis argues that Jim Garrison utilized his political power in a gendered anti-vice campaign to target and unjustly arrest some of the women in the vice industry to gain publicity and fame. While Garrison publicly fought against women in the vice world, his vice crusade masked his own misconduct as a District Attorney.