Louisiana’s governor ordered a clemency review after 56 of the state’s 57 death row inmates filed applications at the same time, just months before his sentence was due to end.
John Bel Edwards, a rare pro-life Democrat, has urged the Republican-dominated legislature to end the practice — and now 56 felons could have their death sentences reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The detainees in question include child rapists, including one who raped and killed a four-year-old child, murderers of civilians and police, and at least one member of a domestic terror group.
The state parole board ruled all of the applications non-viable after an advisory opinion issued by state Attorney General Jeff Landy, a Republican seen as the frontrunner to replace a term-limited Edwards in the November election.
In Edwards’ letter to the council – all of whom were appointed by him – he appealed to them as a pro-life governor and someone concerned about whether justice had been served in each case.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards ordered a clemency review after 56 of the state’s 57 death row inmates filed applications at the same time, just months before his sentence was due to end.
“Beyond moral justifications, there are a number of reasons, whether based in law or science, that support the need for mercy when considering these apps,” he wrote. .
“Over the past 20 years in Louisiana, there have been six exonerations and more than 50 overturned sentences in capital cases.”
Republican Jeff Landry, a conservative and Trump-backed death penalty advocate who wants to fill Edwards’ limited-time job this fall, said each of the death sentences was more than justified.
“The governor is trying to circumvent a constitutional pardon and parole system,” Landry said. NOLA.com.
“Each of these death row inmates was sentenced by a jury of their peers not once but twice.”
Landry dismissed the idea of clemency on the grounds that neither of them applied within a year of conviction, although Edwards believed he was wrong.
“The rule simply doesn’t say the application can only be filed in that first year,” Edwards wrote.
The state parole board ruled all applications not viable after an advisory opinion issued by state Attorney General Jeff Landy, a Republican seen as the frontrunner to replace the time-limited Edwards in the November election. .
Kevin Daigle, 61, was convicted in 2015 of shooting state trooper Steven Vincent, who arrested him to help Daigle after his car got stuck in a ditch. He was later charged with the separate murder of his roommate
The controversy goes beyond simple party lines, with Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III, a Democrat, siding with Landry and arguing that Edwards is disrespectful to victims.
“Due to the Governor’s request today, deep wounds have again been reopened for victims who believed this matter was resolved,” Moore said in a statement. “When will this emotional roller coaster for these victims end?”
Loren Lampert, Republican executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, said applications are expected to line up behind the 440 they currently face.
“Each surviving victim and family member of the victims of these horrific crimes collectively constitutes dozens of reasons why these cases should be given the utmost scrutiny, effort and time,” Lampert wrote. .
Edwards, a devout Catholic, has received support from the Archbishop of New Orleans, the Innocence Project and conservatives in Louisiana concerned about the death penalty.
According to The Advocate, which first reported in Tuesday’s filings.
Currently, 60 people sit on Louisiana’s death row, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections told The Associated Press in late May.
Louisiana has carried out 28 executions since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
Nathaniel Code, 57, was convicted and sentenced to death for four of the at least eight murders he was suspected of, including a child. He has maintained his innocence, although some members of his own family have called for his execution.
Daniel Blank (pictured right in 1997), 61, is known as the River Parishes Serial Killer after he was convicted of five murders of elderly people, including beating and stabbing a 72-year-old woman to death. Lawyers unsuccessfully argued in the state Supreme Court that he was coerced into confessing
But the last lethal injection dates back to January 2010 when the state executed Gerald Bordelon – a convicted sex offender who confessed to strangling his 12-year-old stepdaughter and waived appeal.
Currently, no execution date has been set, according to the Department of Corrections.
However, other states carry out the death penalty. Twenty-seven states apply the death penalty and last year 18 inmates were executed, according to the Washington, DC-based Death Penalty Information Center.
In addition, a handful of states are seeking to reinstate other methods of execution – such as firing squads – as an alternative to lethal injections, after drug companies ban the use of their medications.
Opponents of the death penalty in Louisiana argue that the penalty should be removed due to the cost of executions, religious beliefs and racial disparities.
According to the Capital Appeals Project, a disproportionate three-quarters of Louisiana’s death row inmates are people of color.
Critics also note that Louisiana has had frequent exemptions. Between 2010 and 2020, 22 death row inmates had their sentences reduced or were exonerated, according to the correctional service.
Those who opposed the failed death penalty bill have pleaded for justice for families of victims who believe it is the appropriate punishment for certain crimes.
