Gov. Jeff Landry opened his special session on crime with an attack on the 2017 bipartisan criminal justice overhaul, before acknowledging the parents of a murder victim who were in the chamber.
By doing so, he introduced a theme he would return to frequently during his speech—the current system puts too much emphasis on protecting the rights of criminals and not enough on protecting the public and providing justice for victims.
“Our criminal justice system has lost its balance,” Landry said.
The substance of Landry’s claims, and the question of whether rolling back the 2017 changes would be helpful or counterproductive, will be debated over the course of the ongoing special session, which must end no later than March 6.
Among the governor’s endorsed proposals:
- Allow residents to carry a concealed firearm without a permit.
- Create a permanent state police “Troop NOLA” that would have jurisdiction over all of New Orleans.
- Expand methods to carry out the death penalty and make it a felony to release information about implementation.
- Raise the minimum penalty for carjacking from two to five years, and 20 years if the crime results in bodily injury.
- Provide additional protection from civil liability for law enforcement officers who make a “good faith error” or are “faced with a meritless accusation.”
- Create mandatory deadlines following conviction for inmates to file claims requesting post-conviction relief, and provide a 90-day notice to victims prior to any hearing.
- Share more information about activity in the courts.
- Require 17-year-olds accused of a felony to be tried as an adult and, if convicted, held for at least three years.
- Expand the use of drug courts.
- Revamp the public defender system.
In a prepared statement, Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, argues that the session’s call was drawn too narrowly, forcing lawmakers “to yet again go down the road of being tough on crime but soft on actual safety.”
Duplessis called for “violence intervention and trauma response programs; expanding mental health services; increasing access to housing; and reducing poverty,” and said “relatively simple things” like reducing blight and improving street lighting can help make neighborhoods safer.
Prior to the governor’s speech, Democrats repeatedly objected to suspending House rules to allow bills to move quicker, which the GOP supermajority shot down each time. Rep. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, says their effort was aimed at slowing down the process to allow for greater transparency.
RESET Louisiana—comprising the Council for a Better Louisiana, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana and the Committee of 100 business group—cautioned against undoing the 2017 changes.
“Little evidence exists to show that imprisoning criminals with longer sentences reduces crime or recidivism, though it definitely will cost taxpayers more money and put a greater strain on the budget,” the groups argue. “The governor and lawmakers should focus prison beds on those who pose a serious threat to public safety and continue to reinvest other corrections dollars into evidence-backed prison alternatives, rehabilitation and reentry programs aimed at helping people return to society and productive jobs.”
In a report made public Monday, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office says the 2017 Justice Reinvestment Initiative saved the state almost $153 million through June 2022, which will provide fodder for supporters. Landry, perhaps anticipating this argument in his speech, claimed the costs of the changes he supports will be more than offset by a reduction in crime.
The report from the LLA’s office also found that inmates released under JRI provisions do not appear to be rearrested more often than the overall return rate, and stated that “there is no consensus among criminal justice stakeholders” on the impact of the changes. That last point, at least, seems to be indisputable.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
