Entries tagged with “Jeff Landry”

Executions

Religion

,

Mar 24, 2025

Four Executions in Three Days Spotlight Constitutional Concerns About Death Penalty

In a three-day span from March 18 to March 20, four men were exe­cut­ed in four dif­fer­ent states. Two of the men put to death, in Louisiana and Arizona, were the first exe­cut­ed in their state in years. While the close tim­ing of the exe­cu­tions result­ed from inde­pen­dent state-lev­­el deci­sions and indi­vid­u­al­ized legal devel­op­ments rather than any coor­di­nat­ed nation­al effort, all four exe­cu­tions raised seri­ous con­sti­tu­tion­al con­cerns. ### March 18: Jessie Hoffman (LA) On…

Methods of Execution

,

Mar 19, 2025

Louisiana Resumes Executions After 15-Year Hiatus with First Nitrogen Gas Execution

After a series of last-minute legal chal­lenges, cul­mi­nat­ing with a denial of stay from the U.S. Supreme Court, Louisiana exe­cut­ed Jessie Hoffman on March 18, 2025. Mr. Hoffman’s exe­cu­tion marked both the state’s first exe­cu­tion in 15 years and the state’s first exe­cu­tion using nitro­gen gas — only the sec­ond state to use this new method. State offi­cials acknowl­edged that Mr. Hoffman exhib­it­ed​“con­vul­sive activ­i­ty” as he inhaled nitro­gen gas through a mask while…

Methods of Execution

,

Upcoming Executions

,

Feb 18, 2025

After a 15-Year Pause, Louisiana Governor Intends to Restart Executions Using New Nitrogen Gas Protocol; Courts Set Execution Dates for Two Prisoners

On February 10, 2025, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry announced his deci­sion to end a 15-year pause on exe­cu­tions, say­ing the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections is ready to car­ry out exe­cu­tions under a new nitro­gen gas exe­cu­tion pro­to­col. In a press release fol­low­ing his announce­ment, Gov. Landry said,​“For too long, Louisiana has failed to uphold the promis­es made to vic­tims of our State’s most vio­lent crimes; but that fail­ure of leadership by…

Research

Methods of Execution

,

Mar 11, 2024

OP-ED: Journalist Recalls Witnessing an Execution and Describes the Importance of Media Witnesses

In May 1990, Jonathan Eig, then a reporter for The New Orleans Times-Picayune, wit­nessed the elec­tric-chair-exe­cu­­tion of Dalton Prejean at Angola State Penitentiary for the 1977 mur­der of a Louisiana state troop­er. Mr. Eig watched Mr. Prejean’s exe­cu­tion through an obser­va­tion win­dow, and report­ed see­ing​“his chest heave, his fists clench and his right wrist twist out­ward. A spark and a puff of smoke shot from the elec­trode attached to his left leg.” In the years following…

Issues

Methods of Execution

,

Jan 30, 2024

Louisiana Supreme Court Grants New Trial Based on Prosecutorial Misconduct while New Governor Landry Moves to Expand Methods of Execution and Restart Executions

On January 26, 2024, the Louisiana Supreme Court grant­ed a new tri­al to death-sen­­tenced pris­on­er Darrell Robinson based on egre­gious pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct. The Court held that Mr. Robinson​“did not receive a fair tri­al, or a ver­dict wor­thy of con­fi­dence.” Mr. Robinson’s quest to prove his inno­cence advances at the same time that Governor Jeff Landry seeks to expand the state’s meth­ods of exe­cu­tion and restart exe­cu­tions. During a tumul­tuous 2023 in which…

Research

Religion

,

Jan 10, 2024

Catholic Organizers See ​“Renewed Momentum” for Death Penalty Abolition from Pope Francis’ Teachings

In 2018, Pope Francis for­mal­ly revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church — its core teach­ings — to oppose the death penal­ty. Characterizing cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment as​“an attack on the invi­o­la­bil­i­ty and dig­ni­ty of the per­son,” he wrote that the Catholic Church​“works with deter­mi­na­tion for its abo­li­tion world­wide.” This revi­sion updat­ed a 1997 Catechism edit by Pope John Paul II that per­mit­ted the death penal­ty in rare cas­es where it was deemed​“the only…

Research

Nov 21, 2023

Following Series of Denials, Louisiana Board to Hold Administrative Hearings on Clemency for at Least Two Additional Death Row Prisoners

The Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole will con­sid­er at least two addi­tion­al appli­ca­tions for clemen­cy on November 27, fol­low­ing a tumul­tuous year in which near­ly all Louisiana death row pris­on­ers sought clemen­cy in response to out­go­ing Governor John Bel Edwards voic­ing his per­son­al oppo­si­tion to the death penal­ty. Under the Louisiana Constitution, Governor Edwards can­not grant clemen­cy with­out a rec­om­men­da­tion from the Board; he asked the Board to…

Research

Oct 16, 2023

Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole Denies Clemency Hearings for Five Death-Sentenced Prisoners

On October 13, 2023, after a brief admin­is­tra­tive hear­ing, the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole denied clemen­cy hear­ings for five of the 56 death-sen­­tenced pris­on­ers seek­ing clemen­cy before Governor John Bel Edwards leaves office in January 2024. The four-mem­ber pan­el split its vote on four of the five appli­ca­tions, with a major­i­ty deny­ing the fifth appli­ca­tion on the grounds that Winthrop Eaton is unlike­ly to be exe­cut­ed because he is mentally…

Research

Aug 10, 2023

Governor John Bel Edwards Directs Louisiana Board to Consider Death Row Clemency Petitions and Set Hearings

On August 9th, with the use of his exec­u­tive author­i­ty, Governor John Bel Edwards (pic­tured) asked the Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole to return the 56 clemen­cy appli­ca­tions filed by death-sen­­tenced pris­on­ers in Louisiana to its dock­et for con­sid­er­a­tion and set them for hear­ings. The Board of Pardons will now have until January 2024, when Gov. Edwards offi­cial­ly leaves office, to decide whether to rec­om­mend clemen­cy for near­ly all of the state’s death row…

Issues

Jul 28, 2023

Louisiana Pardon Board Declines to Consider 56 Death Row Clemency Petitions Without Merits Review

On July 24, 2023, the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole set aside all 56 clemen­cy appli­ca­tions filed by near­ly every death-sen­­tenced pris­on­er in Louisiana last month with­out review­ing the mer­its of a sin­gle one of them. The pris­on­ers asked for their sen­tences to be com­mut­ed to life with­out parole, but the Board made its deci­sion to return the appli­ca­tions based on an advi­so­ry, non­bind­ing opin­ion from the Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. Attorneys for death…