Louisiana
Louisiana Legislature advances bills to roll back criminal justice reforms
The Louisiana Legislature is advancing a package of bills that would drastically roll back criminal justice reforms in a state known until recently for having the highest incarceration rate in the country and the second-highest number of wrongful convictions.
Among the proposals moving through the Republican-controlled chambers are bills that would allow 17-year-olds to be charged as adults, unseal some juvenile criminal records, significantly reduce parole eligibility and “good time” credits inmates can earn toward early release, and limit post-conviction appeals. Other measures would expand the state’s methods of performing executions to include nitrogen gas and electrocution while making the state’s capital punishment process off-limits to public records requests.
The Legislature convened a special session this month at the request of newly seated Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who in a February 19 speech to lawmakers cited violent crime in the state’s three largest cities as evidence that the criminal justice system in Louisiana had “lost balance” and forgotten about crime victims.
“Everyone in this room is aware that crime has put a national spotlight on our great state,” Landry said. “In 2021, Louisiana had the highest violent crime rate in the nation. In 2022, three of our cities were in the top 10 most dangerous cities in America. Two-hundred and eighty people were murdered that year in New Orleans alone, earning that city the title of ‘murder capital’ of the country.”
Many of the items on Landry’s laundry list of priorities target reforms passed in 2017 as part of a bipartisan package called the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI). Louisiana was one of many red states that passed criminal justice reforms in the 2010s as the cost of their prison systems exploded. As Reason wrote at the time, Louisiana had a staggering incarceration rate—nearly double the rest of the country—driven by lengthy sentences for nonviolent offenders and a large number of inmates serving life sentences with no possibility of parole.
Criminal justice advocacy groups across the political spectrum and some crime analysts say that available data undercuts Republicans’ arguments for many of the rollbacks.
“The governor’s policy proposals are not evidence based, lack the data necessary to inform sound criminal justice policy, and will disproportionately harm communities of color,” the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a press release.
Opponents of the rollback, such as the conservative criminal justice advocacy group Right on Crime, point to a report released earlier this month by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor (LLA) on the impact of the JRI.
“We urge Louisiana lawmakers to consider these findings, both the successes and areas that need improvement, as they move forward this week with the Special Session on crime,” Scott Peyton, Louisiana director of Right on Crime, said in a press release. “There is nothing in the LLA report that suggests the JRI should be discontinued or dismantled. Instead, this report points to successes and areas for improvement.”
According to the LLA report, since the package of criminal justice reform bills was passed in 2017, it has saved the state of Louisiana $152.7 million and largely accomplished its goal of prioritizing prison beds for violent offenders—the overall prison population decreased while the percentage of inmates incarcerated for violent offenses increased. Mississippi overtook Louisiana as the state with the highest incarceration rate. In addition, inmates released based on the JRI’s changes to good time credits “do not appear to return to custody at a higher rate than the overall return rate.”
However, the report did find a lack of integrated data, a lack of performance measures, and a lack of consensus on the impact of the JRI have all hampered its rollout. In addition, it noted that “while the percentage of those released from incarceration and subsequently returning is lower than the five years before JRI, those who do return are returning sooner than previous years.”
In his speech, Landry also conspicuously did not cite 2023’s crime numbers, which give a muddier but less apocalyptic picture.
The Louisiana Illuminator reported, “New Orleans and Baton Rouge saw significant drops in homicides last year, but Shreveport saw a significant increase. At the same time, the overall rate of violent crime in Shreveport fell in 2023.”
Beyond that, crime analysts say that they don’t see how many of the proposed laws will actually result in reductions in violent crime on the front end of the justice system.
Jeff Asher, co-founder of the New Orleans firm AH Datalytics, told Axios that “it feels like trying to fix the Saints’ quarterback problems by drafting a center-fielder.”
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — For the first time in state history, Louisiana has more registered Republican voters than Democrats, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Political analyst Jeff Crouere says that while Louisiana has voted Republican in recent elections, the real shift was due to Republicans convincing Democrats to cross the aisle.
“Encourage more people to register as Republicans. These were like conservative Democrats that had been voting Republican but were still registered as Democrats. So, they, they were encouraged to switch parties. This trend accelerated. It’s been going on for a while,” said Crouere.
Republicans are calling it a milestone, saying it shows the state is finally as good as its people, crediting every grassroots volunteer who helped make it happen.
“That is a testament to republicans sticking to their promises. Louisiana is going to be the best state in the nation, and we are one year at a time making that happen,” said Gov. Jeff Landry.
“More Louisianans than ever are choosing the party of freedom. Opportunity, honesty, lower taxes, safer streets, and better schools. This is a historic milestone for our state,” said Chairman of the Republican Party of Louisiana Derek Babcock.
However, Democrats see it differently. They argue there hasn’t been a political shift at all, saying the change is largely the result of widespread voter purging.
“Where you kicked thousands and tens of thousands of people off the rolls without giving them an opportunity to fix it. You go through these purges, and you summarily target Democrats,” said Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter.
“The governor is doing everything that he can to showcase that his back is not against the wall, that the people of Louisiana are not turning against him and the MAGA Republicans’ agenda,” said Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis.
Overall, Croure says it’s a small gap, so both parties have to do better. Citing recent voter turnout.
“Democrats need to catch up as far as the money goes. The messaging, the type of candidate. But if I were Republicans, I wouldn’t be celebrating too much, because in the last election, only 17% of Republicans bothered to vote,” said Croure.
Ashley Shelton, CEO of the Power Coalition, says the organization has been working to register more young voters by partnering with local colleges and universities.
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The Louisiana Supreme Court granted a stay early Friday morning to keep Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill from being arrested on felony charges handed down by a New Orleans grand jury July 2.
Though the Supreme Court didn’t dismiss the case against Murrill, it did pause the process and signaled in its ruling that the attorney general “is likely to succeed on the merits of a motion to quash this indictment on either a legal basis or due to apparent procedural irregularities.”
Murrill responded with a statement at 6:53 a.m. July 3.
“I’m grateful to the Louisiana Supreme Court for swiftly issuing a stay in this matter,” she said. “I hope this political witch hunt is not a harbinger of things to come, but I fear that it is. Neither the grand jury investigation law nor the public intimidation law was intended to be used as a political weapon by a rogue, biased, vindictive special prosecutor, judge and grand jury. I hope the Legislature in the future will ensure this cannot happen again.”
The grand jury returned a 16-count indictment charging Murrill with malfeasance and intimidation in the latest chapter of an ongoing feud between Murrill and Democratic city leaders.
The charges stem from letters Murrill sent to city officials, among them Mayor Helena Moreno, in May saying they risked losing their elected positions if they tried to overturn legislative action that eliminated a New Orleans criminal clerk’s elected office.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who also has a fractious relationship with New Orleans city leaders, called the grand jury a “kangaroo court” and promised to pardon Murrill.
Special prosecutor Laurie White responded to Landry during a news conference after the grand jury returned its indictment, saying, “Good; let’s get her convicted and then he can pardon her.”
“We’re very interested in elected officials in New Orleans not being intimidated or threatened,” White told reporters. “It’s going to be very simple; very open and shut.”
Orleans Criminal District Judge Leon Roche had issued a warrant for Murrill’s arrest, setting bond at $400,000, but the Supreme Court stay halted that warrant.
Ironically, Murrill secured an indictment for former Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson earlier this year in the same courthouse.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.
WOODWORTH, La. (KALB) – The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is reminding boaters to stay safe and never operate a vessel while impaired as the Fourth of July weekend draws crowds to the state’s lakes and rivers.
The department is participating in Operation Dry Water, a nationwide campaign focused on stopping impaired boating. Since its launch in 2009, the campaign has removed nearly 8,000 impaired operators from waterways across the country.
“Fourth of July weekend, this is a nationwide campaign that all your local, state and federal law enforcement participate in on your local waterways,” said Sgt. Jesse Davis with LDWF. “It’s just to make sure that we’re raising awareness and enforcement towards drinking alcohol and using drugs while you’re on the water.”
Wildlife officials said drinking and operating a boat can be just as dangerous as drinking and driving a car. They are encouraging anyone who plans to consume alcohol to designate a sober operator.
“At the end of the day, everybody wants to go home. Everybody wants to have a good time. It’s the Fourth of July. You can have a good time. Just get somebody to drive. Be responsible. Have somebody sober,” said Cpl. Ryan Durand with LDWF.
Officials are also recommending that boaters wear a life jacket while on the water. While adults are not required to wear one at all times, officials said a life jacket could save a life in an emergency.
“The most recent statistics on that are 87% of people that are involved in a recreational boating incident that they drown — fatality-wise — it’s 87% of those crashes involve that,” Durand said. “When you’re in a boat, you’re not always required by law to wear that personal flotation device, but it’s always a very good measure to have that on in case something happens.”
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