BATON ROUGE, La. — In an effort to resume Louisiana’s death row executions, which have been suspended for 14 years, lawmakers introduced a bill Friday that would add the use of nitrogen gas and electrocution as possible methods of carrying out the death penalty.
As Red States add execution methods — from firing squads in Idaho to, the newest method, anoxia using nitrogen in Alabama — Louisiana is one step closer to joining the list. After the House passed it on Friday, the legislation now heads to the Senate, where Republicans have a two-thirds majority, for debate and possible final approval. Louisiana’s conservative governor, Jeff Landry, has indicated he will sign it if it reaches his desk.
“This administration is ready and is looking for the tools to carry out executions. I’m giving them that tool,” Republican Nicholas Muscarello, who authored Louisiana’s bill to expand execution methods, said during the debate Friday.
In recent decades, the number of executions in the United States has declined – partly due to legal battles, a shortage of lethal injection drugs used as the main method of capital punishment, and declining support for the death penalty, which has led to a majority death penalty. states to interrupt or abolish it altogether. Last year, 24 executions were carried out in five states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, DC.
There are currently 58 people on death row in Louisiana. According to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety, no execution has taken place since 2010 and none is planned in the future. & Corrections.
But between a new conservative governor and recently the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas — the first time a new method has been used in the United States since lethal injection was introduced in 1982 — there has been a renewed push. to additional ways to carry out the death penalty in Louisiana.
Republicans say it’s time for Louisiana to fulfill “contractual obligations” between the state and the victims’ families after a death sentence was handed down in court. They say other states have been successful in carrying out executions and that Louisiana could do the same. Democrats question the legality of the proposed methods and whether they would fall under cruel and unusual punishment.
While exploring the use of nitrogen gas is not a shock to Louisiana’s political pundits as the method continues to gain traction elsewhere, the reintroduction of electrocution has taken some by surprise.
For four decades, Louisiana used the electric chair – dubbed “Gruesome Gertie” by death row inmates – until the final execution in 1991, when the state switched to lethal injections. Today the chair is housed in the Louisiana Prison Museum and Cultural Center.
Currently, only eight states allow electrocution, but according to the Death Penalty Information Center, seven of them use lethal injections as the primary method. Likewise, lethal injection would be the preferred method in Louisiana under the bill, but the head of Louisiana’s Department of Public Safety and Corrections would have the final say.
Supreme courts in at least two states, Georgia and Nebraska, have ruled that the use of the electric chair violates their constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Conversations about execution methods have also fueled the age-old debate over the death penalty in general. Advocates say they are calling for justice for the families of victims who believe this is the appropriate punishment. Opponents argue that the death penalty should be abolished because of the cost of executions, religious beliefs and racial disparities.
Additionally, critics have noted Louisiana’s frequent exonerations — according to the corrections department, 22 death row inmates had their sentences reduced or exonerated between 2010 and 2020 — and fear that someone who is innocent could be put to death.
Louisiana’s foreclosure bill is one of several policies to be discussed during the state’s brief special session. Other legislation includes limiting or eliminating the possibility of parole for certain offenders, stiffening sentences for some crimes and mandating that 17-year-olds be tried as adults when charged with a crime.