Bills to Repeal the Death Penalty Filed in Louisiana’s House and Senate

CONTACT: Michael Cahoon - The Promise of Justice Initiative - (504)529-5955, MCahoon@defendla.org

BATON ROUGE--After more than 12 years without an execution, an end to Louisiana’s death penalty is in sight. State Senator Katrina Jackson’s SB294 and State Representative Kyle Green’s HB 106 would take the death penalty off the table for future crimes. Senator Jackson’s bill would also use resources wasted on Louisiana’s failed death penalty to support critical needs in early childhood education, which is a proven violence prevention strategy.   “I’m proud to have the support of Louisiana’s faith-based community. This legislation reflects the values of our state. Together we can ensure Justice for all victims of crime and honor our principles,” said Jackson. 

“It’s time to move our state forward. We can do better to prevent crime and support victims. The death penalty cannot practically be carried out. We owe families who are victims of crime better closure and this bill helps to provide that,” said Green.

The administration of Louisiana’s death penalty has always been plagued by serious problems, but its disfunction has brought considerable attention in recent years. Louisiana courts have not upheld a new death sentence in over four years. 

“Louisiana’s death penalty system is racist, cruel, and broken,” said Michael Cahoon, who leads the LA REPEAL campaign at Promise of Justice Initiative. “As a policy, it also fails at its stated purpose: bringing justice to crime victims, survivors, and their families.” 

A 2019 Loyola University study found that: “Under conservative estimates, maintaining a system of capital punishment for an offense committed after August 1, 2019 through the person’s trial in 2022 and through an execution in 2037 would cost: two hundred and eighty-one million dollars ($281,000,000).”

SB 294 and HB106 would repeal the death penalty, freeing up crucial state resources for violence prevention and support for Louisiana murder victim families and violence survivors.

“The death penalty contributes to extreme sentencing trends that have made Louisiana the incarceration capital of the world,” said Mercedes Montagnes, executive director at the Promise of Justice Initiative “The legal processes surrounding Louisiana’s death penalty system are painful to survivors, expensive, lengthy, and contribute to a high-stakes, win-first mentality among prosecutors - which in turn leads to overzealous prosecution and wrongful convictions.” 

These proposals come in the midst of declining support for the death penalty, nationally and in Louisiana. Virginia, which has executed more people than any other state in the country, repealed their death penalty last year.

The Promise of Justice Initiative, through our LA REPEAL coalition supports these efforts to repeal our death penalty system and will work to build support for these bills during the legislative session. This is the moment to end Louisiana’s death penalty and our legislators have the opportunity to do so. Join the effort at: http://www.larepeal.org/join-us/.

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The Promise of Justice Initiative works to create positive change for people in the criminal legal system at the intersection of impact litigation, direct services and community engagement. Our tools include criminal and civil litigation, organizing, direct support, and policy advocacy.