Louisiana lawmakers reject bill to abolish death penalty after emotional hearing

Greg Hilburn, Monroe News-Star
Updated ·3 min read
14

Louisiana will keep the death penalty for at least another year after a House committee on Wednesday rejected a bill to abolish executions after a hearing filled with emotional testimony on both sides.

Democratic Rep. Kyle Green of Marrero said he filed House Bill 262 for a second straight year knowing it faced long odds of passage.

"It's important enough to continue to bring this debate every year until we can convince our colleagues that this is not the best version of who we are," Green said in an interview with USA Today Network. "For me as a Christian, I can't sit back and not try to repeal this abhorrent institution."

Members of the House Criminal Justice Committee killed the bill on an 11-4 vote.

Louisiana is one of 27 states where the death penalty still exists, though it's been 13 years since a prisoner was executed.

The state last carried out an execution on January 7, 2010, putting Gerald Bordelon to death by lethal injection after he waved his appeals. His execution was the 28th in Louisiana in the modern era of the death penalty.

Since then corrections officials have said they've been unable to secure the drugs necessary to carry them out.

Those supporting the abolition of the death penalty cited their Christian faith and the inability to reverse fatal mistakes made by the justice system with 11 death penalty exonerations in Louisiana alone.

"Vengeance doesn't restore; it doesn't repair," said the Rev. Alexis Anderson, a prison reform activist.

Shareef Cousin of New Orleans and Corey Williams of Shreveport are among the 11 Louisiana exonerations. Both testified Wednesday.

"I can speak to the mental anguish I still suffer 28 years later," Cousin said. "It's embarrassing to me to have to sit here and beg you to end this."

"I don't think I'll ever be right," Williams said. "Mentally the scars will never leave."

Susan Weishar of the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University in New Orleans said "the dignity of life" is a core tenet of the Catholic faith.

"Every human being is a child of God," Weishar said. "It's impossible to be anti-abortion and pro death penalty. Ask yourself, 'Who would Jesus execute?'"

Sister Helen Prejean, a decades-long advocate to abolish the death penalty in Louisiana, is surrounded by students from St. Joseph's Academy in the state Capitol, during a press conference to support bills that would eliminate executions in the state.
Sister Helen Prejean, a decades-long advocate to abolish the death penalty in Louisiana, is surrounded by students from St. Joseph's Academy in the state Capitol, during a press conference to support bills that would eliminate executions in the state.

But there were others of the Christian faith like Gene Mills with Louisiana Family Forum who turned in green cards supporting keeping the death penalty in place and family of victims who believe the death penalty is an appropriate punishment.

Louisiana's district attorneys and sheriffs also opposed the bill, saying the death penalty is an "important tool" for their work.

Wayne Guzzardo's daughter Stephanie was murdered by Todd Wessinger in 1995. Wessinger remains on death row.

"She begged for her life and he said, 'Shutup b---- and shot and killed her," said Guzzardo, who wiped tears from his eyes during the hearing.

Guzzardo said he was offended by those concerned about the ongoing state costs, about $7 million per year, to defend death penalty cases. "It insults me to put a price tag on my baby's life," he said.

And Iberville Parish District Attorney Tony Clayton, who is Black, dismissed statistics that the justice system is biased against the Black population, calling it "hocus pocus" and saying it was offensive.

"It doesn't matter whether you're Black or white," Clayton said as he described heinous crimes in graphic detail. "If you killed somebody you deserve the death penalty."

Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards for the first time in his eight-year tenure said he supports abolishing the death penalty, but the term-limited governor will leave office without the chance to sign a repeal.

Only once, in 2019, has a bill to abolish the death penalty even made it out of a House or Senate committee for full debate in either chamber. Even then, former Democratic state Rep. Terry Landry shelved the bill when it became clear he didn't have the votes in the House.

More: Louisiana death penalty debate returns as lawmaker seeks to end executions

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Louisiana rejects bill to abolish death penalty after emotional hearing