This is the first in a series of articles revolving around the case of Louisiana vs. Jimmie Christian Duncan. I say it’s a series because as of right now the case is still ongoing and there is no clear end in sight. For him, it may never end. As things develop and the situation progresses, I will provide updates.
Jimmie Duncan is on death row in Louisiana for a crime that many experts – and also quite ordinary people as well – say may never have even happened. He has been there for almost 32 years. I know him well. In fact, I used to sell him tacos, burritos, and cheeseburgers from the inmate club I was the founding president of, the Camp F VETS. I used to stop and talk to him if he was awake in the mornings when I picked up deli orders, or in the evenings when I delivered food, or on Tuesdays when I delivered fruit for indigent prisoners.
His case has become a gathering spot for wrongful conviction advocates primarily because of its connection to two of the most well-known names in forensic misconduct: Michael West and Steven Hayne. These discredited forensic figures have been linked to many wrongful convictions, many of which have been overturned, and of the overturned, 4 are death row veterans. Yet, in spite of mounting evidence that Duncan was convicted based on junk science, Louisiana continued to push onward with the tortuous path towards his execution.
Maybe it was because Louisiana wanted to conceal something – the falsehoods and junk science they were perpetuating, and the jailhouse informant they relied on – even after they knew he was lying to them. So, yes….this case is about 3 primary things: manufactured “evidence,” lying witnesses, and jailhouse snitches. This is actually a pretty common tactic in Louisiana – hiding evidence and coaching lying informants. And once caught, prosecutors and judges – and informants – have no choice: they have to keep lying and hiding.
Jimmie has ALWAYS proclaimed his innocence – from arrest to arraignment to trial to conviction and on through appeals to post-conviction relief applications – he has never wavered, and his story has never wavered. In the face of death, he has remained steadfast in declaring his innocence.
However, with the election of Jeff Landry to the governorship of Louisiana (he was attorney general under Jon Bel Edwards) and the ascendancy to attorney general of Liz Murrill, his situation became much more tenuous. In the waning months of his final term, in a move that shook Louisiana politics, John Bel Edwards, the former Governor of Louisiana, expressed his opposition to the death penalty, stating it was “so final” and “we know mistakes have been made”. He based his opposition on his religious faith and the “finality” of the punishment. Edwards also directed the Board of Pardons to consider clemency applications for all death row inmates in Louisiana, advocating for a “pro-life” approach.
Full of hope, capital appellate attorneys filed mass requests for clemency for the 56 men on death row in hopes that Edwards could commute their sentences before leaving office. Guess who stymied that effort? You’re right – Jeff Landry. Landry promptly filed legal pleadings to stop this effort, and the battle played out in court.
Although Duncan was included in the initial filing for clemency, The Innocence Project withdrew its clemency petition in the case of Jimmie Duncan. “The State has shown it is not taking the process of reviewing death row clemency petitions seriously, and Mr. Duncan has new, compelling evidence of innocence that must be considered.”
In spite of the “we know mistakes have been made” part of John Bel’s position, (since 1975, 12 individuals have been exonerated while residing on Louisiana’s death row), upon assuming office, Landry immediately announced a resumption of executions and Murrill jumped on and started rowing the boat. The legislature had hurriedly passed a series of bills which completely unraveled all of the positive changes to Louisiana’’s criminal justice system which had been brought about in a bi-partisan effort during Edward’s final term.
“Louisiana has a long record of convicting and sentencing to death people later found to be innocent. In the past three decades, the state has exonerated 11 people facing execution, among the highest such numbers in the country, according to The National Registry of Exonerations.”
On April 24, 2025, Jimmie’s death sentence and conviction were vacated by a Louisiana Judge and the evidence presented during evidentiary hearings in reaching that decision is appalling.
One footnote, in particular, I’m calling the “Wide Divide Note.” On page 7, of the court’s ruling vacating the conviction, there is a very apt descriptor of this entire case.
The “wide divide” throughout Jimmie Duncan’s entire 3 decades of death row has been widening since the day of his arrest. Until NOW. Now that the courts have not just rubber-stamped each and every denial, now that they have actually unfolded, pulled out, and examined the claims he presented, has this evidence been brought to light. And…there is more to come out.
Thanks to The Innocence Project, Jimmie’s extremely dedicated and talented legal team, and to various media highlighting the case, Jimmie now gets a chance to live – whether Landry wants him to or not. This rush to judgment is typical of what we see in high-profile capital cases, particularly in Louisiana. Once mistakes are made, it becomes even more critical to hide them. And Louisiana is very good at concealment.
Special shout out to Catherine Legge, multi-talented documentarian and producer extraordinaire, for her podcast and upcoming documentary, The Murder That Never Happened, in which the entire saga of Jimmie Duncan and his family and their battle to prove his innocence, is shown.
FILE – Vehicles enter at the main security gate at the Louisiana State Penitentiary — the Angola Prison, the largest high-security prison in the country in Angola, La., Aug. 5, 2008. (AP Photo/Judi Bottoni, File)
In about 8 hours, 4 big men, strong and barrel-chested – chosen for this task and having trained on it for hours and hours for several weeks – will enter through a barred gate, open a small cell door, and shackle and manacle a man. They will walk, or carry, him out the cell and through that gate, turn to their left and pass through two locked steel doors, pass through a lobby where hangs a large oil painting of a chariot aiming for the heavens, and through another steel door. They will pass a number of gathered officials, enter into a small windowless room where there is a gurney.
There is a pair of phones hanging on the wall, and a microphone. He will be placed on the gurney, given a moment to speak a few words. They will then fit a clear mask over his face, tightening the straps on his chin. There will be a silent, solemn nod, and the man on the gurney will be suffocated with nitrogen gas.
It is a torturous process, lasting about 5-6 minutes while he struggles to breathe, wrists and feet straining against the thick leather straps restraining his limbs to the gurney. When sufficient time has elapsed and there is no more movement from the man, a medical person will enter the room, place a stethoscope to his chest, listen closely, and pronounce him dead.
An ambulance will already be parked outside the back steel door, and he will be rolled out and placed in the vehicle. They will drive to the REBTC Treatment Center and his body will be placed into a steel refrigerated drawer marked “MORGUE”. HIS suffering will at last be over. The only suffering left will be of his friends, his loved ones, and the attorneys who have fought valiantly to save his life.
And, the “right-to-life” state where it is mandated that the Ten Commandments be placed in every school classroom – the Sixth Commandment, specifically – will have purposely murdered a man by taking the same gift of breath given to him by the very God that they so loudly proclaim to be their guide.
And those people who did this will go home and go to eat supper, have a couple drinks, and get a night’s rest.
Forgive us, because we should not be capable of doing this.
NOTE
NOTE: This post was originally posted on March 18, 2025, prior to Jessie’s execution by nitrogen gas. I just never had the opportunity to update all of the places my writing is available. You can find my writing on mySubstackor on my other website atFREEDOM-CHANNEL.
If you like my work, and appreciate it, please note that donations are greatly appreciated.
The execution gurney and a mask used for the nitrogen gas
Gerald Bordelonexpedited his own execution by choosing to waive his appeals, including his direct appeal, which was previously thought to be a mandatory part of the state’s death penalty process. Bordelon volunteered for execution after he was found guilty of raping and murdering his 12-year-old stepdaughter. The choice to waive his appeals was met with strong disagreement from his team of inmate counsels (prisoners who serve as attorney substitutes), who jointly decided that they would not assist him in his decision. Bordelon was represented in his desire to be executed by a fairly well-renowned constitutional law attorney from Baton Rouge, Jill Craft. She succeeded in having the court allow Bordelon to waive his appeals, but later said she “would never do it again. “
Bordelon told media sources why he volunteered for his execution: “I’m doing this for [the victim] Courtney. I’m doing it for her family. I’m doing it for me. I’m doing it for my family so they don’t have to worry and deal with it for the next 20 or 30 years. I’m doing it for a lot of reasons.”
On January 7, 2010, Gerald Bordelon was executed via lethal injection at Angola. He was one of three people executed in the United States on that same day. The others were Vernon Lamont Smith in Ohio and Kenneth Mosley in Texas. They were the first three people to be executed in the United States in 2010. The executions of three or more people within a single day is something that has not occurred in the United States since.
In Bordelon’s last statement, he apologized to LeBlanc’s family as well as his own. His last meal was fried sac-a-lait fish, topped with crawfish étouffée, a peanut butter and apple jelly sandwich, and chocolate chip cookies. He was pronounced dead at 6:32 pm.
As of this writing, Bordelon remains the last person executed in Louisiana, which has gone over fourteen years without an execution. He is also the only person to have been executed in Louisiana since 2002, when Leslie Dale Martin was executed for murder.
Due to a 2012 lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s lethal injection protocol and drug companies not wanting their products associated with capital punishment, Louisiana has been unable to carry out executions, despite capital punishment still being a legal penalty.
Despite remaining a legal penalty, there have been no executions in Louisiana since 2010, and no involuntary executions since 2002. Execution protocols are tied up in litigation due to a 2012 lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s lethal injection procedures. In addition, certain pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers do not want their products associated with capital punishment, meaning the state has been unable to obtain lethal injection drugs. Despite this, a 2018 survey by the Louisiana State University found that the majority of Louisiana citizens still support capital punishment.
On March 5, 2024, Governor Jeff Landry signed a law allowing executions to be carried out via nitrogen gas and electrocution. The law has opened the door for Louisiana to resume capital punishment after a fourteen-year hiatus.
No more is there a “liberal” decision on what is appropriate punishment or humane. So a new era is beginning in Louisiana, one of anger and hatred and – for lack of a better term – revenge, and simple political expediency. Landry campaigned on a promise to “get tough on crime,” even though crime had been on a steadily declining path for several years. The problem is that New Orleans has a fairly high profile and when anything happens there, it gets highly magnified. People ignored what was actually happening, a lot of people did not vote, and Landry won. Like Trump, Landry claims that a “mandate from the people” propelled him into office, when nothing could be further from the truth.
In the 2023 Louisiana gubernatorial election held on October 14, 2023, Jeff Landry secured the governorship by winning 51.56% of the vote, totaling 547,827 votes. His closest competitor, Democrat Shawn Wilson, received 25.93% of the vote, amounting to 275,525 votes.
Voter turnout for this election was notably low, with only about 36% of registered voters casting ballots—the lowest for a Louisiana gubernatorial primary since 2011. Given the state’s 2,970,167 registered voters, this means that approximately 18% of the total electorate voted for Landry.
While Landry achieved a majority in the primary, allowing him to avoid a runoff, the low voter turnout indicates that a significant portion of the electorate did not participate in the election. Therefore, his victory margin reflects both his support among active voters and the broader context of limited electoral engagement.
So, his election was hardly a “mandate,” but Louisiana’s largely conservative “Bible Belt” reputation strongly supports him. That fact is reflected in him holding a super-majority in both houses of government. He used this to great effect when, within days of taking office, he instituted a complete reversal of all criminal justice reform gains made during the terms of his predecessor, John Bel Edwards.
New methods of execution, legislation authorizing treatment of 17-year-olds as adults, elimination of parole for prisoners, and a vast reshaping of the entire criminal justice system were accomplished within weeks in “Special Sessions” of the legislature. He very publicly announced that he was creating a new State Police Troop to be based in New Orleans that would assist the notoriously corrupt NOPD in fighting crime in the city.
Within weeks, the new Troop was responsible for three separate car chases that resulted in four crashes. These incidents led to multiple arrests and the confiscation of various drugs and firearms. In at least one of those chases, an innocent bystander was injured.“
As far as the promised results, violent crime in New Orleans actually increased in the months ahead. Homicides increased, armed robberies increased, and a horrible homegrown terrorist attack occurred in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter, about a month shy of the city hosting the Super Bowl. Landry created a bit of a stir with his court-challenged uprooting of the city’s homeless population and placing them in an “emergency shelter,” and in the process destroying most of their personal property while promising to implement programs designed to get people off the streets and into residential housing.
So the Super Bowl came and went – and my Chiefs LOST! – and things pretty much returned to normal. Louisiana went right back to figuring out the quickest and best way to efficiently kill someone.
We are now less than a week from Jessie Hoffman’s execution date of March 18th, 2025. Although court challenges are in the works, it remains to be seen whether the date will be met, and what sense of pride Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill will exhibit following the intentional killing of a man. Both Landry and Murrill have said that they are “honoring promises made to the victims and their families.” I think they are only creating more victims.
The federal district court in Baton Rouge, Middle District of Louisiana Judge Shelly Dick, has granted an injunction halting (or at the very least, slowing) the execution, and in the ruling, said,
CONCLUSION
Considering the foregoing, Plaintiff’s Motion to Reconsider the Court’s Denial of his RLUIPA Claim (Count VI) shall be DENIED. Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction shall be GRANTED on the Eighth Amendment claim, and Defendants are enjoined from executing Jessie Hoffman on March 18, 2025, using nitrogen hypoxia. Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction is DENIED as to Counts III and IV.
March
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this 11th ___ day of _______________, 2025.
S
________________________________
SHELLY D. DICK
CHIEF DISTRICT JUDGE
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
I pray for Jessie Hoffman, as I hope you do as well. He has asked that he be executed via firing squad, due to the lack of prolonged suffering. He will simply be wiped out of existence, like some terrible substance on the bottom of Jeff Landry’s shoes and Liz Murrill’s heels, and not drowned with fluids filling his lungs and prolonged suffering. After all, isn’t this what you wanted, Louisiana? Oh, I see. You didn’t vote. Well, then you couldn’t care.
Sleep safe tonight, Jessie Hoffman.
NOTE: This post was originally posted on March 14, 2025, prior to Jessie’s execution by nitrogen gas. I just never had the opportunity to update all of the places my writing is available. You can find my writing on mySubstackor on my other website at MyLifeAfterPrison.
If you like my work, and appreciate it, please note that donations are greatly appreciated.
Boy, is there a LOT going on! In the world of state AND federal politics, we have heated arguments and an attempted assassination and questions of whether it was staged or real….we have a former President assembling a group of followers and going to Arlington National Cemetery where he posed for a photo op after aides physically shoved a Park employee aside…do YOU have an opinion on that?
Also, in other areas, civil rights attorney Ben Crump speaks out on Democracy Now! after a judge dismisses counts against 2 officers in the Breonna Taylor case (a Black female EMT who was killed by police IN her home during a raid…a raid based upon a falsified police officer’s affidavit), saying that the victim’s boyfriend was responsible for her death because he produced a legally owned firearm and officers returned fire. Bear in mind that the warrant was falsified, it was in the wee hours of the morning, Breonna and her boyfriend were asleep, and the officers broke the doors down for entry. Hmmmmm….
FORMER President Trump has said that he would offer immunity to police officers if he is elected, when “Qualified Immunity” is one of the largest problems in policing, corrections and virtually every field where someone has power over another. This is another issue that divides us as a nation – those who oppose this are labelled as liberal and weak, and supporters of it are called radical and inhumane. Where does one draw the line? Where do YOU draw the line?
AND, the death penalty is back on the table and liberally in use around the country. The old arguments both for and against it are resurfacing, and the usual voices are raised in defense of their positions.
LAST NIGHT, August 29, 2024, at 6:15 pm, the State of Floridaexecuted Loran Cole.
The Death Penalty in America: A System of Inequality
The execution of Loran Cole in Florida highlights the ongoing debate surrounding capital punishment in the United States. While proponents argue that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to crime and provides justice for victims, critics contend that it is a cruel and unusual punishment that disproportionately affects marginalized populations.
The death penalty system in America is often criticized for its systemic biases, particularly against individuals from underprivileged backgrounds. Here are some key factors that contribute to this inequality:
Racial Disparity: Studies consistently show that individuals from minority racial groups are more likely to be sentenced to death than their white counterparts, even when controlling for other factors. This racial bias can be attributed to systemic racism within the criminal justice system.
Economic Inequality: Individuals from low-income backgrounds often have limited access to quality legal representation, which can significantly impact the outcome of their cases. This can lead to harsher sentences, including the death penalty.
Mental Health Issues: Many individuals who are sentenced to death have underlying mental health conditions that may have contributed to their crimes. However, these conditions are often not adequately addressed, which can result in unfair trials and harsh sentences.
The Impact of Trauma and Neglect
The experiences of individuals from underprivileged backgrounds can often be marked by trauma and neglect, which can contribute to criminal behavior. If these individuals had access to mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and other support programs, it is possible that they could have been prevented from committing crimes.
For example, individuals who have experienced childhood abuse or neglect may be more likely to develop mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, or substance abuse. These conditions can increase the risk of criminal behavior. By providing early intervention and support, it may be possible to address these underlying issues and reduce the likelihood of criminal activity.
The Need for Reform
The death penalty system in America is in need of significant reform to ensure that it is applied fairly and justly. This includes:
Addressing systemic biases: The criminal justice system must take steps to address racial and economic disparities in death penalty cases.
Improving access to legal representation: Individuals facing the death penalty should have access to high-quality legal representation, regardless of their income level.
Addressing mental health issues: Individuals with mental health conditions should have access to adequate treatment and support.
Exploring alternatives to the death penalty: Some states are considering alternatives to the death penalty, such as life without parole. The life is saved!
By addressing these issues, it may be possible to create a more just and equitable death penalty system that better serves the needs of all Americans.
BUT, what about Loran Cole, a White male?
Photo provided by FL Department of Corrections
Loran Cole, 57, received a lethal injection and was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. at Florida State Prison for the 1994 killing of an 18-year-old college student. Cole also was serving two life sentences for rape.
Cole did not have a last statement. “No sir,” he said when asked if he had some final words.
After the procedure began about 6 p.m. Cole briefly looked up at a witness in the front row. After three minutes, he began taking deep breaths, his cheeks puffing out. For a brief moment, his entire body trembled. Five minutes into the procedure, the warden shook him and shouted his name. Cole then appeared to stop breathing and then was declared dead.
Cole’s crime was horrific.
Cole and a friend, William Paul, befriended two college students in the Ocala National Forest, court records showed. After talking around a fire, the men offered to take the siblings to see a pond. While away from the campsite, Cole and Paul jumped the victims and robbed them, according to the records.
THUS, another life was taken…and, another life was surrendered.
Although it is widely known that I oppose the death penalty in ALL cases, this particular case is haunting. It is haunting in that the state of Florida was actually complicit in the heinous murder that landed Cole on death row. I say that because he was a surviving victim of the notorious Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida.
Cole was an inmate at a state-run reform school where he and other boys were beaten and raped. The state has since apologized for the abuse and this year passed a law authorizing reparations for inmates at the now-shuttered reform school. The lawyers also argued Cole shouldn’t be executed because he was mentally ill and had brain damage and Parkinson’s disease.
Not that long ago, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), signed legislation setting aside $20-million in compensation for surviving victims of Dozier.
“It’s been too long,” said state Sen. Darryl Rouson, the Democrat who sponsored the bill. “This is but a small token for a vast ocean of hurt, but it’s what we can do now.”
As he spoke, a group of about 20 victims stood in the Senate public gallery, one wiping tears from his eyes.
“Thank you for never giving up. Thank you for continuing to fight. Thank you telling the story and the stories of those who are not here and can’t speak. We salute your presence today,” Rouson continued.
What is striking about this is the fact that Cole survived the Dozier School, and the trauma he was exposed to, later led him to commit the crime for which he was put to death by Florida, the same state that allowed the Dozier facility to operate. Bodies are still being dug up there.
The mass grave that was discovered in 2017 on the grounds of the campus has been thoroughly excavated, and the remains of many of the missing boys have been identified. At least 75 separate remains were mingled in the mass grave. However, it is possible that there may be additional remains to be found. Given the history of the school and the number of boys who disappeared (hundreds), it’s unlikely that all of the missing have been accounted for.
If new evidence emerges or additional remains are discovered, authorities may need to reopen the investigation. But for now, the primary focus of the investigation has shifted to identifying the victims and bringing those responsible for the abuses to justice.
One might say that all of the survivors of Dozier were compensated. Some received a monetary reward. Some were killed by Florida.
Just 2 weeks ago, I did a long post on trauma and where it leads if not treated. It often leads to prison, and sometimes to death. For Loran Cole it led to his death, and the death of a promising young man in a college student. For now, Florida has failed.
Louisiana last week adopted a grab bag of new laws, 37 in all, that double down on the state’s culture of incarceration and punishment. The bills were passed over a period of just nine days, during a special session called by Governor Jeff Landry, who won the office last year. Landry vowed in his inauguration speech to “bring an end to the misguided and deadly tolerance for crime and criminals,” even though the state already has the nation’s highest imprisonment rate.
We found that the state’s criminal justice reform advocates are gearing up for a significant growth in Louisiana’s incarcerated populations—people held pretrial as well as those sentenced and serving time. Among other things, the new laws effectively eliminate parole, vastly restrict “good time” credits, mandate prison time for technical violations of parole and probation, and move all 17-year old’s charged with a crime into the adult system.
“Of course it’s going to balloon the prison population. Every single time these kinds of laws go into play, the incarceration rate jumps,” said Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, a researcher who wrote a book on Louisiana’s history of incarceration. “That’s just basic math.”
The laws are also likely to empower local sheriffs, and send more money into their coffers. Owing to a unique arrangement designed to address overcrowding, Louisiana’s local lock-ups house more than half of its state prisoner population in a system that runs on “per diem” payments from the state to local law enforcement in exchange for jailing people who have been sentenced to state prison. The payments this year will total $177 million. More prisoners means more money for sheriffs across the state—and likely future efforts to expand jails.
“Louisiana law enforcement agencies are uniquely invested in incarceration” because of the per-diem system, one advocate told Bolts. “They financially benefit from people who are being held in their jails without providing any of those programs or resources.”
The U.S. prison population is rapidly getting grayer: The proportion of state and federal prisoners who are 55 or older is about five times what it was three decades ago. That’s largely because people are serving out longer sentences — and because people tend to age faster behind bars. Prison systems across the country, which are constitutionally obligated to provide adequate health care, are now grappling with how to pay for the equipment and staffing to meet their needs.
Even before his inauguration, Landry surrounded himself with industry heads and business leaders. He put oil lobbyists and executives at the helm of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources, formerly known as the Department of Natural Resources.
When a federal judge ordered lawmakers to create a second majority-Black congressional district, Landry added more than a dozen unrelated topics to his official call for the required special legislative session.
Though lawmakers didn’t give the governor everything he wanted then, they largely did in a special session on crime a month later.
Landry, previously Louisiana’s attorney general, made that session his top campaign issue. The session’s agenda included campaign promises such as longer jail terms, severely reduced opportunities for parole, and putting the state’s public defender system under the governor’s direct control.
And it’s only been two months.
The regular lawmaking session kicked off Monday, March 11, and must end no later than June 3.
More views on how the fear of crime, rational or not, has fueled a return to harsh criminal laws in some places. Add Tennessee and Vermont to the list of jurisdictions that plan to roll back justice reform measures, including rules to make police more accountable for cases of brutality and other misconduct, in the name of “public safety.” In Florida, for example, Republican lawmakers want to abolish civilian-run police review boards.
For decades, Louisiana had the nation’s highest rate of incarceration. And — given that the U.S. is among the most carceral countries on the planet — the state arguably spent some 20 years as the “prison capital” of the world.
Criminal justice reform advocates have pushed back on the legislation, arguing that people released on parole are less likely to commit new crimes than those who serve full prison terms. In 2023, fewer than 400 people, or about 1% of the state’s prisoners, were granted parole. There’s also evidence that getting rid of parole, alongside time reductions for good behavior behind bars, makes prisons more dangerous by removing the incentives for people to pursue rehabilitative programming and avoid disciplinary violations.
The package of laws included other components that may not directly increase the prison population, but are designed to signal a “tough” approach to crime. This includes authorizingelectrocution and nitrogen gas as execution methods, and making public the criminal records of minors accused of certain crimes. In total, the new suite of laws likely makes Louisiana the most punitive justice system in the nation, with harsher penalties than it had even before the bipartisan reforms passed in 2017. The new changes likely will bring a substantial cost to taxpayers.
Louisiana is not alone. Across the country, state legislatures are rapidly advancing punitive bills and rolling back criminal justice reforms, largely in response to fears about crime. In Georgia, Senate Bill 63 — which has passed the state Senate and House — would add 30 charges to the list of crimes that require judges to impose cash bail to release a person from jail pretrial. That list includes many minor and nonviolent crimes like shoplifting and forgery, if they’re not a first offense. The bill would effectively ban charitable bail funds in the state, in what some have interpreted as a direct attack on the “Stop Cop City” protest movement, which has relied on bail funds to get arrested activists out of jail.
Both Kentucky and Georgia have experienced serious issues with overcrowding and understaffing in jails and prisons in recent years, problems that the pending laws are likely to make worse.
This week the Washington, D.C., city council also passed a “massive” crime bill that, similarly, “puts the liberal city on a track toward harsher punishments for a range of crimes from illegal gun possession to retail theft,” according to The Washington Post. The new criminal code, which has increasingly become a political football in the nation’s capital, has to be approved by Congress to take permanent effect.
While they vary dramatically in scope and approach, punitive legislative efforts are also underway in Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont and elsewhere. As in Louisiana, many of these legislative efforts aim to undo reforms passed in recent years.
Aswad Thomas, the National Director for Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, told me this week that some of these efforts also come as states cut resources “for victims to access healing and recovery services” and invest more in policing and incarceration. “That’s going to have a ripple effect on domestic violence victims, sexual assault victims, and victims of gun violence,” Thomas said.
For example, in Louisiana, the governor’s proposed budget — unveiled at the same time as the special session about crime — cuts $7 million in funding for domestic violence shelters in a state where more than half of all murdered women are killed by an intimate partner. “Every single person we are serving is a victim of crime,” the director of one shelter told the Louisiana Illuminator.
Louisiana expands death penalty, ends parole as Jeff Landry’s crime session ends
Major victory for Gov. Landry as most of his favored bills earn approval from Republican Legislature.
Louisiana death row prisoners could soon be executed with nitrogen gas and the electric chair under legislation given final approval by state lawmakers Thursday — part of a push by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry to toughen penalties for criminals and limit their opportunities for second chances.
The legislation, House Bill 6, headlined a whirlwind 10-day special session convened by Landry in a bid to fight crime. Lawmakers sent 19 other pieces of legislation to Landry’s desk Wednesday and Thursday, marking a victory in the governor’s effort to lurch the state’s policies to the political right by dismantling bipartisan justice system changes enacted in 2017.
“On behalf of countless citizens, victims, their families and the prosecutors who have labored for justice, I give you their thanks,” Landry told lawmakers who voted for his favored bills.
Those bills will have profound effects on the state’s courts and prisons: Landry, who took office last month, is set to sign legislation to eliminate parole for all adults who commit crimes after Aug. 1, slash prisoners’ chances at early release for good behavior, place 17-year-olds in the adult justice system and publicize a swath of youth court records, among over a dozen other measures.
The proposals faced withering criticism throughout the legislative process from Democrats, who argued that more punitive laws will do little to reduce crime — one of Landry’s stated goals for the session.
They tried repeatedly to water Landry’s bills down with a variety of amendments; most of those efforts failed.
“These new laws do nothing to prevent crime before it happens,” said Rep. Matthew Willard, D-New Orleans and chair of the House Democratic Caucus. “In fact, the bills passed will explode Louisiana’s prison population, increase recidivism and place an enormous burden on Louisiana taxpayers for generations to come.”
The GOP’s supermajorities in both the House and Senate powered almost all of Landry’s priorities through the legislative process intact. He will sign bills at ceremonies in Baton Rouge and New Orleans next Tuesday and Wednesday, said his press secretary, Kate Kelly.
Death penalty pushback
Silence enveloped the Senate chamber Thursday morning as Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, presented the death penalty bill on behalf of its House sponsor, Rep. Nicholas Muscarello, R-Hammond. Besides growing the state’s list of approved execution methods, the legislation would seal records related to the procurement of lethal injection drugs.
Landry strode into the upper chamber and sat in the gallery with a group of victims’ loved ones — some of whom he shares personal bonds with. He watched the debate quietly then exited swiftly once the bill was approved, dodging reporters gathered outside the Senate.
Lawmakers of both parties invoked Scripture during the debate.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image,” said Sen. J. Adam Bass, R-Bossier City, reciting from the Book of Genesis. Moments later Sen. Joseph Bouie, D-New Orleans, walked to the mike and quoted the Sixth Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.”
Louisiana last executed someone in 2010 when Gerald Bordelon chose to be put to death by lethal injection for the murder of 12-year-old Courtney LeBlanc. The state has since struggled to obtain lethal injection drugs, leaving 56 people currently held on death row. Louisiana’s last electric chair execution occurred in 1991.
Faith organizations campaigned vigorously against the bill in the days before the Senate’s vote. Tom Costanza, director of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, condemned the bill as running counter to the Catholic Church’s “pro-life” values.
Rabbi Phil Kaplan of Beth Israel in New Orleans said the bill “unmistakably and immediately evokes for millions of American Jews horrific memories of the depravities our ancestors endured at the hands of Nazi Germany, when lethal gas was used to mass murder our people.” And Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, evoked the Holocaust on the Senate floor as he proposed an amendment to remove nitrogen from the list of execution methods.
Members of the Legislative Black Caucus also rose to warn of the bill’s potential outsize effect on Black Louisianans, noting the state’s history of executing Black men only to later unearth evidence of their innocence.
Officials carried out the first-ever nitrogen hypoxia execution in Alabama last month. They pumped nitrogen gas into the mouth of convicted killer-for-hire Kenny Smith, depriving Smith of oxygen until he died, according to an interview with an eyewitness. Smith writhed and gasped for air and was pronounced dead after about 20 minutes.
But the discomfort felt by Smith in his final moments should not outweigh what Kleinpeter described as a need to mete out the ultimate punishment for those convicted of heinous crimes, Kleinpeter said.
“We made an oath to uphold the laws of our state,” Kleinpeter said. “Today we can honor these families and remove the hurdles so that justice may be served for the victims.”
Capital Appeals Project Director Cecelia Kappel, whose group represents death row prisoners, noted that the Senate’s vote was among the closest of the session as four Republicans defied Landry and voted against the bill. The Senate approved the legislation 24-15.
“Many legislators struggled to choose between their conscience and their political allegiances,” Kappel said. “And what this shows us is that Louisiana should not rush to start executing people by brutal methods. … This isn’t about whether we should have the death penalty, it’s about how far we’d go to kill a man.”
Criminals will have fewer opportunities to appeal convictions after the Legislature gave final passage to House Bill 4, by Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro. Republicans lined up in support while Democrats were opposed. The supporters said passage of the bill will limit “frivolous” lawsuits that gum up the legal system.
Critics, led by Duplessis, argued that HB 4 will make it harder for imprisoned people to win exoneration for crimes they didn’t commit when new evidence emerges years after a conviction.
House Bills 9 and 10, both sponsored by Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner, also earned final approval from the Senate Thursday. HB9 would eliminate parole for everyone convicted of a crime after Aug. 1, while HB10 makes prisoners serve 85% of their sentences before they’re eligible for early release based on good behavior.
Villio, Landry and other supporters said the bills would create a more transparent sentencing system by forcing criminals to serve the precise number of years to which they’re sentenced.
They batted away opponents’ concerns that the legislation would hike jail populations and raise costs, saying they will work to educate judges about the need to adjust sentences. Legislative analysts estimate that HB9 will cost millions annually due to the likelihood it will inflate prison populations.
“Today is a great day in Louisiana,” Landry said in a statement.
I, for one, beg to differ. This presents a very dark day for Louisiana, indeed.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Much of the information contained in this article came from the Marshall Project, and from NOLA.COM, and I am not copyrighting any of this information. I am providing it to you under the fair use doctrine.
SEXUAL ABUSE IN WOMEN’S PRISON INVESTIGATED
FBI removes prison officials as sexual abuse investigation ramps up. Federal law enforcement agents again searched a women’s prison in California known for rampant sexual abuse behind bars. More than a dozen FBI agents arrived at FCI-Dublin, about 20 miles east of Oakland, early Monday. They removed the warden, associate warden and a captain from the facility, and seized computers and documents in a clear escalation of a years-long investigation into one of the Bureau of Prisons’ most troubled penitentiaries. The probe has already resulted in charges against a former warden and other prison staff.
Louisiana ramping up for surge in prisons/solitary use
A recent Louisiana bill changes sentencing requirements for 17-year-olds, moving them out of the juvenile justice system and into the adult system. When in adult facilities, teenagers are uniquely vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse and federal law requires that they be separated from the adult population, which in practice often means placement in solitary confinement. The passing of Senate Bill 3 will result in a massive increase in the overall prison population in Louisiana and a heavy reliance on solitary for teens due to a lack of adequate housing.
