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Louisiana lawmakers consider making it easier to sentence more minors to adult prisons • Louisiana Illuminator

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Louisiana lawmakers consider making it easier to sentence more minors to adult prisons • Louisiana Illuminator


In a special lawmaking session focused on tax policy, Louisiana lawmakers are also quietly moving legislation that could lead to more underage youth being sent to adult prisons.

The Louisiana Senate’s Judiciary C committee voted 4-1 Thursday in favor of a state constitutional amendment to remove limitations on the number of crimes for which youth under the age of 17 could be sentenced as if they are adults. 

Senate Bill 2 would allow legislators to craft new laws that expand the court’s ability to send minors – 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds – to adult prisons. The proposal alarms advocates for children, who believe it further erodes protections for youth.

It also comes on the heels of a new law passed earlier this year that treats all 17-year-olds as adults when it comes to the criminal justice system. The measure took away discretion from district attorneys to put 17-year-olds through the juvenile justice system instead of adult courts. 

In Louisiana, 15- and 16-year-olds, and in more limited circumstances 14-year-olds, can already face adult prison sentences, though only for limited crimes. These include murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated battery, a second or subsequent burglary of an inhabited dwelling and a second or subsequent violation of some drug crimes.

The constitutional amendment, proposed by Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, would strike that specific list from a juvenile justice provision in the constitution. Instead, she wants to insert language allowing a minor to be charged like an adult for “any crime” as long as lawmakers pass new laws to do so. 

Any of those new laws would face a higher threshold for approval than most statutes — a two-thirds majority of both legislative chambers, not just a simple majority — before they could take effect. 

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The amendment on its own also faces some hurdles before it can be enacted. Two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives have to vote in favor of it. Voters then have to approve it through a statewide election, which would either be scheduled for late March or November of 2025.

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At Wednesday’s hearing, Cloud characterized her amendment as a minor adjustment that is “not going to change the law.” Advocates for children and incarcerated people strongly disagreed with that sentiment. 

“It’s a real profound social failure when we have to give up on kids,” said Michael Cahoon, speaking on behalf of the Promise of Justice Initiative advocacy organization, which opposes the legislation. 

Cloud and Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration, which supports the amendment, were vague Thursday about the new types of crime they might want to use to transfer minors to adult court. 

At the hearing, Cloud initially mentioned concerns that minors couldn’t currently be charged as adults with carjacking but later told her colleagues to avoid focusing on carjacking  as the reason she has filed the legislation. 

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Chris Walters, who handles criminal justice policy for the governor, told legislators that the current constitutional restrictions make it difficult to punish teenagers appropriately for drive-by shootings, property damage and assaults that take place at state juvenile justice facilities. 

But Kristen Rome, executive director for the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, said district attorneys who want to transfer teenagers to adult courts for the crimes Walters and Cloud listed at the hearing can already do so.

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For example, younger teens who carry out carjackings can be charged with armed robbery as if they are adults under the current constitution restrictions, Rome said. Youth who participate in drive-by shootings can already be charged with the adult version of murder or attempted murder, she explained. 

Terry Landry Jr., a lobbyist with the Southern Poverty Law Center, urged legislators to hold off on moving the constitutional change until more was known about the effects of automatically transferring 17-year-olds to the adult criminal system.

Landry Jr., who is not related to the governor, cited a recent article by ProPublica and Verite News that showed nearly 70% of 17-year-olds arrested as if they were adults under the new law in East Baton Rouge, Jefferson and Orleans parishes were accused of nonviolent crimes.

Louisiana sheriffs are already struggling to accommodate 17-year-olds moved from juvenile facilities into the adult system as the result of the law the Legislature approved earlier this year.

While Louisiana state law may consider a 17-year-old an adult for criminal justice purposes, the federal government does not. In order to comply with federal law, sheriffs have to keep anyone under age 18 separate from adult detainees and provide them with educational services.

Sheriffs have complained they don’t have the space in their jails or resources to meet these federal requirements. Many are spending money to house the 17-year-olds at a special facility in Jackson Parish in order not to run afoul of federal or state mandates. 

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It’s not clear how local law enforcement feels about Cloud’s proposal.

In an usual move, the Louisiana District Attorneys Association and Louisiana Sheriffs Association did not testify or attend Wednesday’s hearing on Cloud’s bill. As two of the more powerful lobbying groups at the Capitol, they typically weigh in on most criminal justice proposals that directly affect their respective memberships.

Despite its uncertainty, Cloud’s bill gained approval from the Senate committee that Republicans dominate. Democrats make up about a third of the Louisiana Senate but account for only one of the seven senators on the Judiciary C committee. 

Sen. Regina Barrow, of Baton Rouge, is the committee’s only Democrat and was the lone no vote against Cloud’s legislation. She expressed concern over the “law and order” approach to disciplining youth.

“I do not believe kids are born bad. I just don’t,” she said. 



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Know the Foe: Gaining Louisiana Tech insight with BleedTechBlue

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Know the Foe: Gaining Louisiana Tech insight with BleedTechBlue


As we will do throughout this football season, HawgBeat went behind enemy lines to gain insight on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs with BleedTechBlue Publisher Ben Carlisle.

Louisiana Tech has been on a bit of a roller-coaster this season, as it defeated a team like Western Kentucky (7-3 record) and nearly beat NC State on the road, but the Bulldogs lost Tulsa, FIU and Sam Houston.

Under Cumbie’s leadership, Louisiana Tech has accumulated a 10-24 (7-16 CUSA) overall record in three seasons. This year, the Bulldogs boast the No. 104 total offense (344.4 YPG) and No. 61 passing offense (232.2 YPG) in the country.

Here is what Carlisle had to say about Saturday’s matchup, which is set to kick off at 3 p.m. CT at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville…

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Louisiana lawmakers search for ways to pay for Landry’s proposed income tax cut • Louisiana Illuminator

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Louisiana lawmakers search for ways to pay for Landry’s proposed income tax cut • Louisiana Illuminator


Gov. Jeff Landry’s ambitious plan to overhaul Louisiana’s tax structure has largely been pared down to a more modest goal – cutting state income taxes. 

Lawmakers are working on a way to make sure the state can pay for that desired tax reduction while not having to make damaging cuts to areas such as health care and higher education.  

Options include raising the state sales tax rate higher than it is now, retaining a higher corporate income tax rate than proposed or settling on an income tax cut that is smaller than Landry originally pitched weeks ago. 

The governor wanted to move to a flat personal income tax rate of 3% – the highest rate currently is 4.25% – but it will cost the state more than $1 billion annually. Landry’s income tax plan also leaves the state approximately $700 million short of what is needed to cover the costs of government, according to senators. 

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Through his Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson, the governor had originally crafted a proposal that would exchange a broader base of tax collections for lower personal income and corporate taxes. Nelson said Louisiana would be able to pay for across-the-board personal income and corporate tax rate cuts totaling billions of dollars as long as the state scrapped generous business tax breaks and applied the sales tax to a greater range of products. 

The governor has struggled to get lawmakers to fully embrace the trade off, however. 

Legislators have eagerly voted for bills to cut corporate and personal income taxes but stalled on proposals to help make up for that lost revenue. 

Landry’s tax package started to unravel last week when the Louisiana House of Representatives refused to vote for legislation that would extend the sales tax to more services, such as lawn care, home repair and dog grooming.

“Obviously, the services bill in its original form was a little over $500 million, which would equate to about a half a point on the personal income tax,” House Speaker Phillip Devillier, R-Eunice, said.

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This week, the Senate declined to fully roll back some of the state’s expensive business incentive programs, such as its movie and television tax credits and historic preservation tax breaks that collectively cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars annually.  

A plan to eliminate a state inventory tax credit, which covers taxes businesses pay to local governments, has been delayed until 2026, and a proposal to increase a tax on heavy machinery and equipment used by industrial employers has also been scrapped. 

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If he doesn’t find a way to make up for that money, Landry runs the risk of revisiting the same political problems that plagued former Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Jindal also cut income taxes without replacing the lost revenue or finding a permanent way to cut government spending. His policy led to chronic budget problems for years and made the former governor deeply unpopular when he left office. 

Senate leaders appear to be pushing for a higher state sales tax rate to help fill the hole left by the personal income tax cut.

It was scheduled to automatically drop from 4.45% to 4% in July, though Landry had already pitched keeping the extra 0.45% permanently as a way to cover the corporate and personal income tax reductions. Now, lawmakers are considering an even higher rate to cover the state’s expenses; 5% has been floated for a few days. 

“This isn’t a tax-lowering session. This is a tax-reorganization session,” Rep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe, said Wednesday.

Louisiana already has one of the highest average sales tax rates in the country, and that levy is a larger burden on poor people who have to pay the same rate as the wealthy. Very low-income households don’t pay income tax and won’t necessarily see benefits from cuts Landry and lawmakers make in that arena. 

“As soon as you start to increase the sales tax more, the plan becomes more regressive,” said Rep. Matthew Willard, D-New Orleans, leader of the House Democratic Caucus.

Several Republicans and Democrats in the House also weren’t enthusiastic about the sales tax portion of the original tax plan and might not want to vote for a 5% rate. A bill to keep the state sales tax at 4.4% barely passed the House, with just two votes to spare last week.

“That would be the top number we need for sales,” Sen. Franklin Foil, R-Baton Rouge said Wednesday morning. “We don’t necessarily have the votes to do that yet. We need to get a tally of where things stand.”

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Lafayette Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, head of the Senate Democratic Caucus, said his party doesn’t want a higher sales tax rate, but Democrats also fear government programs they champion, like social services, will be targeted if they don’t support the proposal.

“We want to make sure the things that are important to us will be funded, right?” Boudreaux said Wednesday before he and other Democratic senators headed off to a meeting with Landry. 

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Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, was bullish on the legislators’ willingness to raise the sales tax to 5%.

“I think it can get there. It’s an easier path for that than it is for broadening the base,” he said. 

If lawmakers aren’t willing to raise the sales tax more, legislators could look to retain more of the current corporate income tax rate, but they’ve already pulled back on an original plan to cut that tax dramatically.

Landry initially pitched replacing the graduated corporate tax rate that tops out at 7.5% with a flat 3%. But the senators moved that levy back up to 6% earlier this week to claw back some revenue. A further increase might be unlikely given pressure from business lobbyists. 

Corporate taxes are also a notoriously unstable source of tax revenue. In part because sizable tax credits can be applied in any budget cycle, corporate tax collections have ranged from $193 million to $1.6 billion annually over the past 10 years, according to the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana

Legislators could also increase the personal income tax rate from 3% but seem very reluctant to do so. If it does go up, they would try to keep it to a small adjustment, like up to 3.1% or 3.2%.

“My belief is the personal income tax will, probably will, stay at 3(%),” said Foil, who heads the Senate committee that oversees tax policy.



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Arkansas vs. Louisiana Tech: Star comparison, PFF grades, season stats

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Arkansas vs. Louisiana Tech: Star comparison, PFF grades, season stats


The Arkansas Razorbacks (5-5, 3-4 SEC) will look to secure bowl eligibility Saturday against Louisiana Tech (4-6, 3-4 CUSA) at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

Hailing from Ruston, Louisiana, the Bulldogs will bring the nation’s No. 12 total defense with them to Fayetteville fresh off an upset win over Western Kentucky, which was leading the Conference USA standings prior to last Saturday.

“We’re catching them when I think they’re playing their best football,” Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said Monday. “They deliver some problems. The structure of their defense. They’re a 3-3-5 but it’s different because they have a robber, a rover — a guy basically who’s hard to get to to block. Who is a really, really good player. The (Kolbe) Fields kid.

“So offensively, they’re running the ball a lot better than they have all year. Not throwing it quite as much as what they did earlier in the year. Bu the transfer from Coffeyville (Omiri Wiggins) is a hard runner. Their line is playing well. They’ve got a lot of speed at wideout. So I think they’re going to come in with a lot of confidence, obviously, after their win last week. We’re excited to have them here and on senior day for us. But we know that was a big win for them last week and they’ll come in with a lot of confidence I’m sure.”

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Arkansas is statistically better than the Bulldogs in generally every major offensive category, but the Louisiana Tech defense is stingy. Former Razorback Zach Zimos has logged nearly 500 snaps on the year at linebacker, which is a position he switched to after being a safety with the Razorbacks.

“He’d hit you,” Pittman said. “When he hit you, you got stuck. Certainly playing a different position than we had him here. But I like Zach, I always have. I’m happy for him. I think he’s one of the leaders over there. He’s played a lot of ball. I’m just really happy for him and he’s doing a good job. He’ll hit you, now, so we’ll have to figure that out.”

The Razorbacks will be trying to bounce back from a 20-10 loss to Texas that set them back to a .500 record on the season. A win over the Bulldogs would make Arkansas bowl eligible after the Hogs missed the postseason last year.

“This game, winning, if we can win, it will allow us to play not just another one but another one after that,” Pittman said. “And we just have to continue to improve. So I think that’s what we’ll talk about a little bit more than even what Louisiana Tech has been able to do lately.”

HawgBeat has also compared both teams’ grades from Pro Football Focus, which is a football analytics website that provides grades for each individual player and full teams after analyzing each game for all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. Grades are given from 0-100, with the higher the grade signifying better performance.

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Here’s a look at how both teams stack up based on stats from this year and high school star ratings:

Offense

Louisiana Tech || Arkansas

Scoring: 21.9 (109th) | 30.7 (45th)

Total yards: 344.4 (104th) | 458.3 (11th)

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Passing: 232.2 (61st) | 278.0 (20th)

Rushing: 112.2 (115th) | 180.3 (80th)

Third downs: 41.7% (57th) | 47.3% (15th)

Sacks allowed/game: 3.3 (122nd) | 3.1 (117th)

Turnovers: 19 (118th) | 17 (98th)

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Defense

Louisiana Tech || Arkansas

Scoring: 21.1 (35th) | 25.7 (75th)

Total yards: 302.3 (12th) | 380.2 (80th)

Passing: 187.3 (26th) | 257.2 (116th)

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Rushing: 115.0 (29th) | 123.0 (38th)

Third downs: 36.0% (57th) | 37.0% (59th)

Sacks/game: 1.8 (78th) | 2.1 (57th)

Turnovers forced: 13 (68th) | 12 (85th)



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