Louisiana’s legislature took up dozens of hard-won landmark criminal justice reforms on Monday as part of a special session at the behest of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who wants to see that progress reversed.
Lawmakers considered more than 24 “tough on crime” items, including expanding methods to carry out death row executions, restricting parole eligibility, harsher penalties for carjackings, “immunity from liability” for law enforcement based upon a certain criteria and publicizing some juvenile court records.
This aligns with Landry’s campaign promises to “make our state safe again,” but advocates say the policy changes threaten to undo six years of criminal justice reform in Louisiana.
Louisiana used to have the highest incarceration rate in the nation but relinquished the title under 2017 reforms enacted by Landry’s predecessor, Gov. John Bel Edwards. Edwards, a Democrat, overhauled a series of bills that expanded probation and parole opportunities and reduced sentences for mostly non-violent offenders. Money the state saved in the process – at least $150 million – went toward programs aimed at keeping recidivism rates low. Under the new policies, the rates fell by around 25 percent.
But Landry, a former sheriff’s deputy and the state’s former attorney general, slammed the reforms early on and vowed to crack down on crime.
One item on Landry’s agenda could legalize nitrogen hypoxia executions, the controversial method recently used for the first time in Alabama. Other forms of execution, including lethal injection and electrocution, would remain intact under the bill, though the state hasn’t used them to carry out an execution in almost 15 years. Louisiana has around 60 people currently on death row.
The bill also grants confidentiality to companies who provide drugs for lethal injections.
Landry’s agenda items aren’t just confined to adult prison facilities. The governor is hoping to repeal protections for incarcerated…
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