Louisiana special session on crime: Winners and losers 

Republican supermajorities in both chambers of the Louisiana Legislature easily passed a slew of “tough-on-crime” proposals supported by Gov. Jeff Landry. 

The approval of these bills marks a significant victory for Landry and a fulfillment of a campaign promise. But Landry’s victory is a loss for many reform advocates, as it means a reshaping of Louisiana’s criminal justice system and a rollback of the changes adopted under former Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, that reduced the state’s nation-leading prison population 

Here’s who won and who lost in the nine-day special session. 

WINNER: Gov. Jeff Landry 

Fresh off an overwhelming victory in a low turnout election, Landry is currently at the peak of his power with less than two months in office. Unlike his mixed bag of a special session on election matters in January, the Republican governor took nearly all Ws in the crime session. 

The nine-day session fulfilled his campaign promise to expand the methods by which Louisiana executes people. Aided by Republican supermajorities in both chambers, Landry was also able to pass bills that will potentially keep more people in prison for longer in a state that already has among the highest incarceration rates in the country. 

Louisiana will also lower the age to be considered as an adult, sending all 17-year-olds to adult court, regardless of the crime. 

Also passing was a provision to make certain juvenile justice records available to the public, something the state has typically shied away from to protect the privacy of those charged with crimes in their youth. 

Landry’s easy victories mark a turn from the last two terms. With a Democratic governor and a Republican Legislature, nearly everything approved in the last eight years was, by definition, bipartisan. With Republicans in full control and a GOP governor at the height of his power, Louisiana must adjust to single-party rule. 

LOSER: Justice Reinvestment Initiative 

The bipartisan changes to Louisiana’s criminal justice system that former Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, championed are dead. Known as the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, the measures were meant to reduce the state’s prison population and funnel savings into services for crime victims and anti-recidivism efforts 

New laws that eliminate parole and limit good-time credit and post-conviction relief opportunities for the incarcerated mean that Louisiana’s criminal justice system will soon be even more punitive than when Edwards and the Legislative made the changes in 2017. 

LOSER: Democrats

Beyond a couple of bipartisan measures, nothing with broad Democratic support passed during the crime session. 

Aided by a supermajority, the Republican leaders of both chambers easily maneuvered to pass Landry’s priorities at a swift pace. Despite Democratic resistance and objection, Republicans repeatedly suspended the rules to move legislation more quickly and rebuffed attempts for compromise. Some of this lack of compromise may have been because bill authors were carrying legislation on behalf of the governor and had little leeway of their own, some have speculated. 

Democrats resisted repealing the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, arguing that instead of pumping up the prison population with harsher punishments, the state should focus on preventing crime in the first place by focusing on education, mental health and stronger social safety nets. But the call for the special session issued by Landry was so narrow in scope that nothing resembling that agenda could be filed, and those proposals that somehow made it through were quickly sidelined because they were not germane. 

The position Democrats find themselves in comes from, in large part, the legislative redistricting plans adopted in 2022, which redrew House and Senate maps to support Republican supermajorities in both chambers. A federal judge ruled last month both versions violate the Voting Rights Act. 

Plaintiffs in that case contend the Legislature should add six more majority Black House seats and three in the Senate in order to adequately reflect Louisiana’s population. 

If the legislative makeup reflected that, Republicans likely wouldn’t have a supermajority and Democrats would’ve had more of a voice in this special session on crime. 

Unless a judge orders new legislative elections — an outcome not without precedent — the crime session foretells a long four years of continuous uphill battles for Democrats. 

WINNER: Sexual assault survivors

Bipartisanship is not completely dead at the Louisiana State Capitol. Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature came together to unanimously pass a law that will give prosecutors more time to initiate prosecutions of sex crimes. 

Senate Bill 9 by Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, allows the state’s three-year prosecution period for sex offenses to be restarted if new photo or video evidence comes to light. 

A similar proposal, House Bill 15 by Rep. Delisha Boyd, D-New Orleans, unanimously passed the House but did not get a Senate hearing. 

Boyd’s proposal would have started the prosecution period for third-degree rape once the crime was discovered rather than when it occurred. Third-degree rape occurs when the victim cannot consent due to intoxication, the inability to understand what is happening or when the victim submits believing the assaulter is someone else. 

The proposal has been refiled for the regular session.  

LOSER: Transparency 

As in the redistricting session, Republicans repeatedly suspended the rules to push their agenda through more quickly. 

This time, rushing the legislation meant bypassing the House Appropriations Committee, meaning the proposals did not get a thorough examination on the basis of their fiscal impact. 

Fiscal notes for some of the proposals estimated the bills could cost tens of millions annually, but those costs were not fully nailed down and might not be fully known for years. 

The Legislature also passed a bill that will limit transparency when the state puts people to death as punishment for a crime. 

House Bill 6 by Rep. Nicholas Muscarello, R-Hammond, adds electrocution and nitrogen gas hypoxia to the methods by which Louisiana executes people. It also shields records related to executions — including who supplies the state the drugs and equipment used — from public view under threat of civil penalties. 

Proponents of the bill argued the state would be more likely to obtain lethal injection drugs if businesses didn’t have to fear negative business consequences for selling drugs used to kill somebody. 

Some states, including Texas, have resumed executions after approving secrecy bills. Arkansas has a similar law with much stiffer penalties but has been unable to obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections. 

Louisiana’s civil penalties would apply to anyone who publicizes the information, whether they are a corrections employee or a journalist who obtained the information lawfully. First Amendment experts say the penalties would be unconstitutional if applied to the news media. 

WINNER: Gun owners 

Gun owners in Louisiana will soon be able to carry a concealed handgun without a license. 

Senate Bill 1 by Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, gives a long-awaited victory to powerful gun advocacy groups. Starting July 4, concealed carry licenses, and the training required to obtain them, will not be required for those 18 years or older. The legislation does not eliminate the licenses, as the permits will still be required to take advantage of reciprocal agreements with other states. 

Opponents of the bill argued removing training requirements currently in place to carry a concealed weapon could make the streets more dangerous. 

Another Miguez proposal, Senate Bill 2, grants an unprecedented level of immunity to gun owners involved in a self-defense shooting. Under the legislation, persons who hold concealed gun permits, under most circumstances, will be able to shoot someone without fear of being sued. The immunity would apply except in cases of gross negligence, intentional misconduct or the commission of a crime that results in a felony conviction.

LOSER: Public defenders  

Louisiana’s public defense system has been substantially overhauled. Under the new system, the governor will have more power over public defense. 

Senate Bill 8, sponsored by Sen. Mike Reese, R-Leesville, was condemned by almost everybody in the system, from front-line public defenders to those on the state’s Public Defender Board. Some said the proposal was a power grab on the part of the State Public Defender Rémy Starns, the only person involved in the system to testify in favor of the legislation. 

Reese’s bill does away with the current structure and shifts most of the board’s power to a newly created office of the state public defender headed by an executive of Landry’s choosing, subject to the Public Defender Board’s approval and Senate confirmation. 

It also creates a new board with nine members instead of 11 to oversee the state public defense system, though the governor will choose four of those board members. 

The new board will be called the Louisiana Public Defender Oversight Board but will have limited powers and authorities compared with the new state public defender. 

Criminal justice reform advocates raised concerns at placing the public defender system, which provides a service guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, under the executive branch. It places criminal defense too close to prosecution, brought in the state’s name, at the cost of the judiciary’s independence, they say.