SHREVEPORT, La. - Joyce Kemp Dukes came to court with a fistful of receipts and a heart full of exhaustion.

“I’m 61 years old,” she told the judge, voice cracking. “Please tear my mother’s house down. I don’t want no more part of it.”

Moments later, the gavel fell. The judge granted her wish: demolition ordered, no fine and promised her a signed judgment before she left the room. Dukes exhaled, wiped her eyes, and thanked the city. “Now I can take a trip to Vegas,” she said softly.

Her plea was one of dozens heard Thursday inside Shreveport’s environmental courtroom, where compassion, frustration and enforcement collided in equal measure. Over three hours, the city’s hearing officer reviewed more than two dozen blight cases: ordering teardowns, levying fines and granting 30-day extensio

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