26 April 2017 :

The Senate's Judiciary C Committee voted 6-1 to have the full Senate consider SB 142 by Sen. Dan Claitor, R, which would eliminate death penalty for any offense committed after July 31. Proponents of the ban argued that state government, facing a budget deficit of more than $1 billion beginning in mid-2018, should not be spending money on costly death penalty appeals, especially considering that Louisiana has executed only one person since 2002. There is similar legislation in the House being proposed by Rep. Terry Landry, D, and co-sponsored by Rep. Steve Pylant, R, a former Franklin Parish sheriff. A coalition of religious leaders and defense attorneys attacked capital punishment, citing moral concerns and questioning whether it deters crime. The state's 82 percent reversal rate of death sentences since 1976 is the highest in the country. Since 1977, there have been 242 people sentenced to death, and only 28 executions. Eleven death row inmates have been exonerated. The bill advances next to the full Senate floor.