Landry suggests tougher penalties, rolling back reforms in crime-focused session

Shannon Heckt
·3 min read
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BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Monday marked the beginning of the crime-focused session that Gov. Jeff Landry campaigned on all of last year.

The narrowly tailored call for the session includes a list of several items that have been on some conservatives’ wish lists in how they have wanted to tackle crime.

Democrats are working to slow down the process of the session to allow transparency to the public and give them time to have their voices heard before the bills are voted on.

“If we want to talk about addressing crime, we need to talk about mental health, substance use disorders, reentry programs and eliminating barriers for our men and women coming home from prison so that they can successfully reintegrate into society,” said state Rep. Matthew Willard.

They said the narrow call of the session has prohibited them from bringing their bills they say are not reactive like some currently filed.

Many criminal justice advocates have aired their concern over potentially rolling back some of the 2017 reforms. The Criminal Justice Reform Initiative focused largely on reducing the prison population of non-violent offenders and reinvesting the money saved from those open beds.

One bill proposed by state Sen. Stewart Cathey looks to lower the age that a person is considered a juvenile from 18 to 17. The “Raise the Age’ initiative was a major push in the past administration to help teens be safer while incarcerated and hoped to give them a better future outlook once they were released. Some lawmakers blame the Raise the Age policy for the rise in juvenile crime following the pandemic.

“By lowering the age, it has resulted in actual incidents of older criminals recruiting 17-year-olds for criminal activity, knowing the consequences would be minimal,” Landry said. “It has fast-tracked too many of our teenagers into a life of crime. The effect has been catastrophic.”

Landry proposed to adjust the legal age by passing a law that mandates anyone who is 17 years old and accused of a serious crime to be treated as an adult in court.

“Furthermore, the proposal will require all juveniles adjudicated of any violent crime to be in custody for a minimum of three years,” he said.              

Lawmakers also have several bills that would restrict who is eligible for parole and lengthen the time someone would become eligible. Legislators have filed bills that would reduce “good time” for inmates.

Bill seeks to increase penalties for carjacking during crime-focused special session

Laws surrounding the carrying of firearms will also be taken up in this session. The so-called “Constitutional Carry” bill that has been filed by state Rep. Danny McCormick for years could have its chance with the regime change at the capitol.

The bill would make it legal for people to conceal and carry a firearm without a permit or training. Louisiana is already an open-carry state.

“It is time Louisiana joins 27 other states who have created a constitutional right to carry a firearm without the government’s permission. This body has repeatedly passed it,” Landry said. “Now you have a governor who will sign it.”

Following the newest form of execution through nitrogen hypoxia in Alabama, Louisiana is quickly following suit to add it to the toolkit. Landry also said on the campaign trail that he would resume executions in the state, which has only had one execution in the last two decades.

The bill by state Rep. Nicholas Muscarello would also add some secrecy to the execution method. The bill would purchase execution materials, not a public record, and even add a penalty for sharing the distributor of the drugs. There are currently 57 inmates on Louisiana’s death row.

“Capital punishment is lawful, and we intend to fulfill our legal duty to resume it,” Landry said. 

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