Louisiana
Louisiana Jews form alliance to oppose gassing as means of execution – Baptist News Global
Louisiana’s Jewish community has formed an alliance committed to protesting and ultimately repealing a new state law allowing the use of gas as an execution method.
The Jews Against Gassing Coalition was formed after the March 5 passage of House Bill 6, which added the electric chair and nitrogen hypoxia as alternatives to lethal injection for Death Row inmates.
The group gathered May 6 at the state Capitol in Baton Rouge to observe Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Memorial Day, and to urge legislative support for a pending bill to remove gas as an execution method in Louisiana.
Phil Kaplan
“It is unfortunate that we need to be hosting this event on the Capitol steps today. But it is necessary, on the same day we remember past atrocities, to speak out to prevent the state from utilizing a means of execution that evokes memories of the method that was used to kill so many of our ancestors,” said Rabbi Phil Kaplan of Congregation Beth Israel in New Orleans.
“The use of poison gas for state-sanctioned execution unmistakably and immediately evokes for millions of American Jews horrific memories of the depravities our ancestors suffered at the hands of Nazi Germany, where lethal gas as was used to mass murder our people.”
Nitrogen hypoxia made national and international headlines in January when Alabama became the first state known to execute a prisoner using the agent. Death penalty opponents around the world denounced Kenny Smith’s Jan. 25 execution as cruel, inhumane and experimental.
The state’s prediction Smith would quickly pass out after inhaling the nitrogen gas did not turn out to be the case, AL.com reported in a video: “Media witnesses saw that Ken Smith appeared to be conscious for several minutes after the gas began to flow before he proceeded to shake and writhe on that gurney for about 2 minutes. That 2 minutes of shaking and writhing on the gurney was followed by about 5 to 7 minutes of heavy breathing.”
The Equal Justice initiative pounced on the disparity between the state’s promise the gas would induce a quick and painless death and the fact it took Smith from 7:53 p.m. to 8:25 p.m. to die: “Mr. Smith clenched his fists and his legs shook. As Mr. Smith gasped for air, his body lifted against the restraints. Witnesses observed fluid inside of the mask. What witnesses observed last night are clear signs of distress and suffering.”
The United Nations swiftly condemned the execution as barbaric. “The use, for the first time in humans and on an experimental basis, of a method of execution that has been shown to cause suffering in animals is simply outrageous.”
Using Smith “as a human guinea pig to test a new method of execution amounted to unethical human experimentation and was nothing short of State-sanctioned torture,” the U.N. added. “The gruesome death inflicted on Smith is also likely to have caused extreme distress and suffering to his relatives.”
Smith devoted his last words to echo that sentiment and to reflect on the damage done to the state’s moral fabric, according to the federal Defender Services Office: “Tonight, Alabama caused humanity to take a step backward. … I’m leaving with love, peace and light. Thank you for supporting me, love all of you.”
“Tonight, Alabama caused humanity to take a step backward.
Religious groups swung into action in early March when Louisiana legislators, acting in special legislative session convened by Gov. Jeff Landry, voted to emulate Alabama’s use of nitrogen hypoxia. Leaders from a cross-section of faith organizations gathered on the Capitol steps to blast the legislation as “inexcusably cruel.”
And their voices were heard. Baton Rouge Public Radio recently reported the use of nitrogen hypoxia “is getting some pushback late in the legislative session.” Senate Bill 430, which would strike the use of gas from the state’s lineup of execution methods, passed out of committee unanimously in April.
The Jews Against Gassing Coalition ascribed the shift to legislators’ emerging awareness of the connection between gas and genocide.
“We realized after speaking to many legislators in the past few weeks that they didn’t realize how it would feel for us as Jews to add gassing as some method of execution,” said Jacqueline Stern, an executive board member with the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans. “They didn’t make the association with the Holocaust, but after it was brought up to them, it was undeniable and they understood our coalition’s perspective.”
Opposition to the use of nitrogen hypoxia for executions is rooted in the historical experience, moral teachings and commitment to justice of the Jewish community, said Aaron Bloch, director of Jewish multicultural and governmental affairs for the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans.
“The use of lethal gas in executions evokes painful memories of the Holocaust, where millions of Jews and others were murdered in gas chambers,” he explained. “And while we do not suggest comparisons to the atrocities of Nazi Germany under which millions of our relatives were murdered, still, we cannot imagine that Jewish communities anywhere can stand by while prisoners are executed in our names using any variation of that mechanism.”
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A small town police chief admitted Tuesday to pocketing thousands of dollars in kickbacks to churn out bogus police reports, marking the fourth and final lawman to plead guilty in an immigration fraud case that has roiled central Louisiana since it became public last year.
Former Forest Hills Police Chief Glynn Dixon, one of four cops charged last summer under what federal prosecutors called a yearslong scheme to profit from bogus visa applications, entered a “guilty” plea Tuesday on a single count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, court records show.
An attorney listed in court records as representing Dixon, Kevin Stockstill, did not immediately respond to an email and phone message.
The former chief initially denied the charges for which he was arrested last July alongside three other lawmen and an Oakdale-based businessman.
Federal prosecutors in a 62-count indictment accused the businessman, Chandrakant Patel, of illicitly paying Dixon, plus Glenmora Police Chief Tebo Onishea, Oakdale Police Chief Chad Doyle and Oakdale Marshal Michael Slaney to churn out bogus reports naming immigrants as violent crime victims. The immigrants then used the reports to apply for “U-visas” — papers for crime victims who cooperate with police investigations — with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, prosecutors said.
In an affidavit filed Tuesday in Alexandria federal court, Dixon admitted to generating at least 69 doctored reports for Patel between August 2023 and July 2025. But prosecutors said the broader scheme may have started years earlier.
Immigrants paid Patel, himself the recipient of U-visa issued in 2023, $20,000 to obtain a police report for them, prosecutors say. He then paid the lawmen around $5,000 per bogus report they generated.
The result, on paper, was what looked like a wave of violent crime across a typically sleepy swath of central Louisiana. (Forest Hill, the Rapides Parish hamlet where Dixon was chief, has a population of just over 600, according to Census data.)
Agents from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigations arm caught on when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services flagged the huge flare in U-visa applications with corresponding police reports from the sparsely populated, rural area, officials have said.
A large mural on the corner of E 6th Avenue and 9th Street welcomes visitors to downtown on Thursday, July 17, 2025 in Oakdale, Louisiana.
Doyle, Onishea, Slaney and Patel each pleaded guilty recently under agreements with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana in several court hearings that came in quick succession, records show.
In Patel’s plea agreement from May 28, he admitted to orchestrating the scheme for at least five years beginning in 2020. He sought law enforcement collaborators to supply and certify the reports needed for U-visa applications, his agreement says.
He admitted to using proceeds from the scheme to buy gold bars, a Swiss Ingot watch, rings, several central Louisiana properties and other items.
The indictment and subsequent plea deals landed as President Donald Trump’s administration has de-prioritized federal law enforcement’s focus on public corruption and white collar criminal investigations, focusing instead on its broad immigration crackdown, plus violent crime and drug trafficking enforcement.
Still, law enforcement agents who investigated the central Louisiana case called the wave of guilty pleas a sign of accountability for public officials who breach the public trust.
“When anyone, including public officials, exploits immigration relief programs or commits fraud against the government, HSI and our law enforcement partners will investigate, dismantle these schemes, and work to bring those responsible to justice,” said Matt Wright, HSI’s New Orleans-based acting special agent in charge.
By admitting guilt, Patel acknowledged in his plea agreement that he faces revocation of his immigration status and deportation.
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Louisiana’s summer heat is becoming harder to ignore, with rising temperatures, higher humidity and thousands of heat-related emergency room visits in recent years.
Across all 64 parishes, average summer temperatures have risen since 1970, according to Climate Central, a nonprofit research group.
In 2023, Louisiana reported a record-breaking 88 heat-related deaths, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. More than 6,100 people went to emergency rooms that year because of heat-related symptoms.
Tony Coker felt how quickly that heat can become dangerous while working his landscaping job last week.
Coker was among a crew cutting grass near LSU’s School of Public Health in New Orleans. He said the heat forced him to stop working.
“I got to a point, I was like, ‘OK guys, you’re going to have to finish. I’m done. My stomach is hurting. I’m sitting down for a minute and I’m going to go home,’” Coker said.
During Louisiana’s often-brutal summers, Coker takes steps to protect himself while working his landscaping job.
“I got this hat on. It’s a little hotter with long sleeves, but it keeps the sun off the body. I wear sunscreen to make sure to get as much protection as possible, you know 100 SPF,” Coker said.
Heat safety
Heat illness in Louisiana
Heat-related illness has sent thousands of people to emergency rooms in Louisiana in recent years.
Heat-related deaths
- 2023: 88 deaths
- 2024: 53 deaths
- 2025: 31 deaths
Emergency room visits
- 2023: 6,187 visits
- 2024: 4,471 visits
- 2025: 4,194 visits
- 2026: 935 visits as of June 30
Signs of heat illness
- Heavy sweating
- Weakness or dizziness
- Nausea
- Headache
- Muscle cramps
- Confusion
- Fainting
How to stay safe
- Drink water before you feel thirsty
- Take breaks in shade or air conditioning
- Wear lightweight, loose-fitting clothing
- Limit strenuous activity during the hottest part of the day
- Check on older adults, children and people without reliable air conditioning
Call 911 if someone is confused, faints, stops sweating or shows signs of heat stroke.
Source: Louisiana Department of Health
According to Climate Central, a nonprofit research group, the average annual temperature in New Orleans has risen by 4.5 degrees since 1970.
The group’s newest summer analysis shows the warming is not limited to New Orleans. Among Louisiana cities analyzed, Shreveport has seen the largest increase in average summer temperatures since 1970, at 4.3 degrees, followed by New Orleans at 4.1 degrees. New Orleans, however, saw the largest increase in hotter-than-normal summer days, with 53 more days above normal than in the early 1970s.
Climate Central’s parish-level data shows average summer temperature increases ranging from 1.4 degrees in Avoyelles and Evangeline parishes to 3.1 degrees in Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Sabine and Terrebonne parishes.
In Orleans Parish, average summer temperatures have risen by 2.5 degrees since 1970, according to Climate Central’s parish-level data.
“It was relatively cool in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and then we went on this rapid warming trend, mimicking what’s going on across the globe, and it’s been very hot,” said Dr. Barry Keim, professor and program director of environmental health, climate and sustainability at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans.
Keim, a climatologist, said Louisiana’s humidity makes the heat feel even worse. He said humidity levels have also risen since the 1970s.
“Bottom line is, not only are the temperatures getting warmer, the humidity is going up, and then when you put the two together it just makes it feel horrible out here,” Keim said.
As the Fourth of July approaches, Keim said there will not be much relief in the form of rain. Louisiana is expected to stay hot and humid.
Forecasts show highs mainly in the low to mid-90s across Louisiana on Independence Day, with heat index values expected to reach the 100s in parts of the state and scattered afternoon storms possible
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Louisiana is expanding the fishing limit for its signature saltwater game fish as part of the state’s American 250 celebration, Gov. Jeff Landry and his Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Tyler Bosworth announced.
Bosworth signed a declaration of emergency to increase the red snapper bag limit from four fish per person to five fish per person for three days from July 2 to July 5 on Independence Day weekend.
“The celebration of America’s 250th birthday is a time to reflect on the blessings and abundant resources we have in our country and here in Louisiana, the Sportsman’s Paradise,’’ Bosworth said. “Increasing our red snapper limit to five fish is a way we’d like to thank the anglers of our state as they enjoy this special holiday with family and friends.’’
Landry is an avid angler, hunter and outdoorsman.
“The increase in the red snapper limit for the holiday weekend is a great way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday,” the governor said in a statement. “I look forward to seeing anglers across our state celebrating our nation’s independence in Sportsman’s Paradise.”
Louisiana is considered the epicenter of red snapper fishing in the Gulf of America, with Venice and Grand Isle as the state’s premier launching spots to reach the most prolific snapper grounds in the Gulf.
Venice is often call the “Red Snapper Capital.”
The state’s extensive offshore oil and gas rigs and artificial reefs provide exceptional access to massive populations for snapper, which are prized for their fight and taste.
Bosworth encourages anglers to reduce barotrauma while fishing for red snapper and other reef fish by using descending devices to return fish to a survivable depth before being released. See the LDWF barotrauma webpage for more information.
The bag limit will revert to four fish per person, per day on July 6.
For additional questions regarding the current red snapper season, go to the agency’s Red Snapper webpage.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.
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