Louisiana’s governor has ordered a leniency review after 56 of the state’s 57 death row inmates filed simultaneously, just months before his term ends.
John Bel Edwards, a rare pro-life Democrat, has urged the mostly Republican legislature to end the practice — and now 56 criminals could see their death sentences reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The inmates in question include child molesters, including one who raped and murdered a four-year-old child, murderers of civilians and police officers, and at least one member of a domestic terror group.
The state’s probation committee deemed all applications non-viable following an advice from Attorney General Jeff Landy, a Republican considered the front-runner to replace term-limited Edwards in November’s election.
In Edwards’s letter to the board—all of whom were appointed by him—he appealed to them as both a pro-life governor and one who was concerned about whether justice had been done in any event.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has ordered a leniency review after 56 of the state’s 57 death row inmates filed simultaneously, just months before his term ends
“Moral justifications aside, there are a number of reasons, whether based in law or science, that support the need for grace in considering these uses,” he wrote.
“In the past 20 years, there have been six waivers and more than 50 reversals of judgments in capital cases in Louisiana.”
Republican Jeff Landry, a Trump-endorsed conservative and death penalty advocate who wants to take Edwards’ limited-term job this fall, says each of the death sentences is more than justified.
“The governor is currently trying to circumvent a constitutional parole and parole system,” Landry said NOLA. com.
“Each one of those people on death row has had a jury of their peers convict them not once but twice.”
Landry rejected the idea of leniency because none of them applied within a year of the conviction, although Edwards believes he is wrong.
“The rule simply does not state that the application can only be made within that first year,” Edwards wrote.
The state’s probation committee deemed all applications infeasible after an opinion from Attorney General Jeff Landy, a Republican considered the front-runner to replace term-limited Edwards in November’s election
Kevin Daigle, 61, was convicted in 2015 of shooting State Trooper Steven Vincent, who had pulled him over to help Daigle after his car got stuck in a ditch. He was later charged with the separate murder of his roommate
The controversy extends beyond simple party lines, with Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III, a Democrat, siding with Landry, claiming that Edwards is disrespectful to the victims.
“Today’s request from the governor has once again opened deep wounds for victims who believed this issue had been settled,” Moore said in a statement. “When will this emotional roller coaster end for these victims?”
Loren Lampert, the Republican executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, said the applications must wait in line behind the 440 they are currently facing.
“Each surviving victim and family member of the victims of these horrific crimes add up to dozens of reasons why these cases should get the most attention, the most effort, and the most time,” Lampert wrote.
Edwards, a devout Catholic, has received the support of the Archbishop of New Orleans, the Innocence Project, and the Louisiana Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.
According to The Advocate, only two leniency applications have been granted by Louisiana governors since the state introduced the death penalty in the 1970s. first reported on Tuesday’s filings.
Currently, 60 people are on Louisiana’s death row, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections told The Associated Press in late May.
Louisiana has held 28 executions since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
Nathaniel Code, 57, was found guilty and sentenced to death for four of at least eight murders he was suspected of, including a child. He has maintained his innocence, although some of his own relatives have called for his execution
Daniel Blank (pictured right in 1997), 61, is known as the River Parishes serial killer after being convicted of five elderly murders, including beating and stabbing to death a 72-year-old woman. Lawyers unsuccessfully argued before the state Supreme Court that he was coerced into a confession
But the last lethal injection was in January 2010 when the state executed Gerald Bordelon – a convicted sex offender who confessed to strangling his 12-year-old stepdaughter and waived an appeal.
Currently, no implementation dates have been set, according to the corrections department.
However, other states continue to use the death penalty. Twenty-seven states have the death penalty, and last year 18 inmates were executed, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center.
In addition, a handful of states are trying to restore other execution methods, such as firing squads – as an alternative to lethal injections, after pharmaceutical companies were excluded the use of their drugs.
Opponents of the death penalty in Louisiana argue that the penalty should be abolished because of the costs of executions, religious beliefs and racial differences.
According to the Capital Appeals Project, a disproportionate three-quarters of Louisiana death row inmates are people of color.
Critics also note that Louisiana is regularly acquitted. Between 2010 and 2020, 22 death row inmates had their sentences reduced or acquitted, the corrections department said.
Those opposed to the failed bill to ban the death penalty have argued for justice for victims’ families who believe it is the appropriate punishment for certain crimes.