A bill that would end the death penalty in Louisiana is scheduled for discussion in a Senate Judicial Committee Tuesday. Outspoken death penalty opponent and author of “Dead Man Walking”, Sister Helen Prejean says it’s time to do it, because Louisiana hasn’t actually executed anyone in years,
“…So we’re not practicing it … and we are spending a tremendous amount – millions of dollars a year – to keep the death penalty system in place.”
In 2010, Livingston Parish resident Gerald Bordelon was the last man executed in Louisiana, after he waived any and all appeals and ASKED to be put to death. Monroe Democrat Senator Katrina Jackson’s bill would simply end the practice. Prejean says public opinion on executions has changed and continues to turn.
“Most of the D.A.’s aren’t looking for the death penalty anymore,” said Prejean.
The bill also requires that state dollars saved by having no executions and no death row expenses be given to childhood education and literacy programs. Proponents of the death penalty argue that the punishment gives closure to families of murder victims. Prejean disagrees,
“There’s an average 17-and-a-half-year wait from the time a person is sentenced to death to execution in Louisiana. And I have known a lot of families waiting for this so-called justice.”
If it reaches final passage, Senator Jackson’s SB294 would end executions for any person convicted after August 1, 2022 of 1st degree murder, 1st degree rape or treason.
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