Louisiana

Parole committee for people convicted by nonunanimous juries advances

Published

3 months ago

April 16, 2026

Press Room

$Parole committee for people convicted by nonunanimous juries advances$

Incarcerated people with nonunanimous jury convictions would be able to send an application for parole to the committee within its first year.

Veronica Camenzuli
| LSU Manship School News Service

A Louisiana bill to review nonunanimous jury convictions advanced in a Senate committee.
The bill would create a temporary committee to recommend parole for incarcerated individuals.
The law allowing nonunanimous verdicts, rooted in an 1898 law to dilute Black jurors’ votes, was abolished in 2018.
Democrats and advocacy groups oppose the bill, arguing it does not go far enough to correct past injustices.

BATON ROUGE — A bill that would allow a committee to recommend parole to incarcerated Louisiana residents who received convictions through nonunanimous jury verdicts advanced 4-3 along party lines in a Senate judiciary committee.

Senate Bill 215 would allow the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to create a committee to review the appeal records of cases with nonunanimous convictions.

Incarcerated people with nonunanimous jury convictions would be able to send an application for parole to the committee within its first year. The committee would end after three years.

Democrats and advocacy groups opposed the bill, saying it did not go far enough to correct the problems.

The bill is meant to address possibly unjust convictions that are no longer legal in Louisiana after a constitutional amendment requiring unanimous verdicts passed in 2018.

The original law, allowing for convictions on as little as a 9-3 vote, was part of the 1898 constitutional convention, and it was designed to dilute Black jurors’ votes.

Louisiana changed the requirement to a 10-2 vote during the 1973 constitutional convention. Oregon, the only other state that allowed nonunanimous juries, had the same requirement.

Under the new bill, clerks of court would provide applicants with their records free of charge, and district attorneys and victims could respond at hearings.

Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Mandeville, who wrote the bill, said the legislation was a compromise between district attorneys who believed in the validity of convictions and criminal justice advocates.

“There’s likely not a way that either of those groups can come to a full consensus, but I think it was important to have the discussions and to continue to have the discussions,” McMath said.

Bradley R. Burget, president of the Louisiana District Attorney’s Association, supported the bill.

“We’re not exactly happy with it,” Burget said. “There’s a lot of the members of the DA’s association that may not be 100% for this, but I think this is something that they can live with.”

Zachary Daniels, the association’s executive director, liked the bill’s provision giving the committee authority to determine which nonunanimous convictions are just since “many of these contain strong evidence and are valid convictions where the prosecutor played by the rules at the time.”

Before the legislative session, the association found at least 1,215 cases a committee could analyze.

Daniels said it would be impossible to retry all of these cases because witnesses, officers and victims may no longer be available, and evidence may no longer exist.

The extensive list of issues the committee could consider includes the length of jury deliberations, the strength of the state’s case, the effectiveness of the defense attorney and evidence of racism.

Former Rep. Randal Gaines, who is now chair of the Democratic Party of Louisiana, filed a similar bill in 2022 that included the same list of issues that could be reviewed.

Herman Evans, who spent 37 years in prison after a nonunanimous jury convicted him in 1989 for a second-degree murder he did not commit, opposed the bill. Even after the perpetrator confessed in 2012, Evans did not get a hearing until 2024.

“That bill ain’t going to do nothing,” Evan said. “They’ve got the parole board. They’ve got the clemency board. It’s about the same board. And it costs about the same if you bring them back and let them get denied.”

Daniels said the expected cost to implement the bill is $1.8 million, based on a study resolution written for the 2025 legislative session by Sen. Charles Owen, R-Rosepine.

Owen also filed House Bill 219 that would allow courts to have resentencing hearings for nonunanimous convictions. The House Committee on Administration has not heard the bill yet.

One issue that arose in the meeting was the governor’s impact on the committee.

The governor would appoint to the committee three retired appellate court judges or Louisiana Supreme Court justices, one retired district attorney or assistant district attorney and one retired public defender.

The district attorney and public defender appointees would come from a list of three nominations from the Louisiana District Attorneys Association and the state public defender.

Although all five members would need to agree that a conviction was unfair, the current bill would allow the governor to make final decisions on releasing applicants.

The current bill does not provide details on the governor’s power. Daniels said the bill would eventually include that language after input from attorneys from the governor’s office.

Daniels also noted that there may be some conflict between the committee’s final decision and Gov. Jeff Landry’s tough-on-crime approach.

Sarah Gozalo of the Promise of Justice Initiative expressed concerns about the governor’s ultimate power.

“If we find that miscarriage of justice, the solution is, we will ask the governor — the one person who, in 2018, opposed getting rid of nonunanimous jurors,” Gozalo said.

Other opponents of the bill suggested keeping the bill in committee until it was amended to address their concerns.

Bruce Reilly, deputy director of Voice of the Experienced, and Erica Navalance, a criminal defense attorney, recommended adding post-conviction evidence to the records the committee sees to prove claims of ineffective defense counsel or prosecutorial misconduct.

McMath declined to defer the bill.

“I think that holding it up in this committee doesn’t necessarily give the chance to continue to move on through the process, where we all know that things sometimes can change and get new input,” McMath said.

Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, who had a similar bill in 2025 that did not pass, objected to the bill’s advancement.

“Just know that this is not an easy objection for me,” Duplessis said. “And if this bill does advance, I want to continue, or at least I want to work with you, to try to find a solution, because it’s been stated repeatedly, we’re not quite there.”

Source link

Click to comment

Louisiana

$604 Mega Millions jackpot has Louisiana players dreaming big

Published

4 hours ago

July 8, 2026

Press Room

4 Mega Millions jackpot has Louisiana players dreaming big

ST. MARTIN PARISH — As the Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $604 million, excitement is growing in St. Martinville, where a quick stop at a convenience store has many imagining what they would do if they won.

The jackpot, the largest Mega Millions prize offered so far this year, drew plenty of attention at Simmis Mart. Some customers were ready to buy tickets, while others simply enjoyed thinking about the possibilities.

Charlotte Wilson said she has noticed that major lottery jackpots often seem to be won outside Louisiana, but that has not stopped her from hoping.

“When they do hit it’s always out of state. It’s never in Louisiana in a little small town, but if you do hit and I win!” Wilson said.

The excitement extended beyond customers. Store employee Vicky Williams admitted she would not mind seeing some of the jackpot come her way.

“I need to get some of that. I could use some of that money,” Williams said.

Among those purchasing a ticket was Shakina Hart, who said playing the lottery is something she has done before, “I’ve played it in the past, but never won the Mega Millions, so yes, I’m hoping I’m winning on this,” Hart said.

For Wilson, hitting the jackpot would be about more than the money. She already knows exactly how she’d put it to use.

“First of all, I’ll buy me a house and a nice car, and I’ll take care of the homeless people because they have a lot of those that need somewhere to live who are hungry and homeless,” Wilson said.

Hart said her priorities would center on her family, especially her children’s education.

“I have one that wants to be a lawyer and one that wants to be a doctor, so the money would definitely help with their school funding and basic care needs,” Hart said.

The next Mega Millions drawing is scheduled for Friday July 10th. While the odds of winning remain long, the growing jackpot has many people holding onto the same thought: What if their numbers are the ones called?

Source link

Louisiana

Leadership Louisiana Health Fellows Welcomes Inaugural Class – Leaders for a Better Louisiana

Published

14 hours ago

July 8, 2026

Press Room

Leadership Louisiana Health Fellows Welcomes Inaugural Class – Leaders for a Better Louisiana

Nearly 40 years after launching Louisiana’s premier statewide leadership development program, Leaders for a Better Louisiana is proud to announce the inaugural class of Leadership Louisiana Health Fellows, marking an important new chapter in the organization’s longstanding commitment to developing informed, connected leaders equipped to address the state’s most pressing challenges.

Building on the proven model and legacy of Leadership Louisiana, the Health Fellows program brings together leaders from across healthcare, business, public policy, higher education, philanthropy, and community organizations to gain a deeper understanding of the systems, opportunities, and challenges shaping health outcomes across Louisiana. Throughout the year, fellows will participate in immersive sessions across the state, engaging directly with healthcare providers, researchers, policymakers, workforce leaders, and innovators while exploring the issues that influence the health and well-being of Louisiana’s people and communities.

“The strength of Leadership Louisiana has always been its ability to bring together accomplished leaders from different sectors and regions to learn from one another while developing a broader understanding of our state,” said Sheree Blanchard, Director of Leadership Louisiana. “The Health Fellows program extends that tradition by focusing on one of Louisiana’s most significant opportunities for improvement. We are excited to welcome this outstanding inaugural class.”

The inaugural class represents a broad cross-section of Louisiana’s healthcare and civic leadership, with participants serving in hospitals, health systems, higher education, business, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and community-based organizations throughout the state. Together, they bring diverse expertise and perspectives that will strengthen dialogue and collaboration around Louisiana’s health challenges and opportunities.

“From the beginning, our vision was to create a program that mirrors the excellence and impact of Leadership Louisiana while taking a comprehensive look at the many factors that influence health outcomes,” said Blanchard. “This first class reflects the caliber of leadership we hoped to attract, and we look forward to watching these fellows build lasting relationships and develop new ideas that will benefit communities across Louisiana.”

Leadership Louisiana has graduated more than 1,600 leaders over nearly four decades, creating one of the state’s strongest cross-sector leadership networks. Leadership Louisiana Health Fellows builds on that foundation by providing participants with a focused exploration of Louisiana’s healthcare landscape while reinforcing the program’s longstanding commitment to collaboration, informed leadership, and service to the state.

The 2027 Health Fellows class will begin its yearlong experience this summer with sessions held in multiple regions of Louisiana.

View the complete roster of the Leadership Louisiana Health Fellows inaugural class.

Source link