Marrero Representative Kyle Green has filed a bill that would eliminate the death penalty in Louisiana. The proposed legislation says death row inmates would be sentenced to a life sentence without parole and it would not be retroactive. Green proposed the same bill in 2020 and 2022 but believes it is worth another debate.
“It doesn’t sit well with me that Louisiana has a history leading the nation in the number of exonerations; basically it’s one exoneration per two point five executions. So we have shown a propensity to not get it right.”
Green says the legislation is based on morality and it’s extremely costly to house prisoners on death row.
“We spend about fifteen point six million dollars a year on the death penalty. So its the cost and also the moral issues as well. It’s why I’m bringing this piece of legislation.”
The legislation says anyone who commits first-degree murder, first-degree rape, and treason would receive a maximum life sentence. Green says it is also extremely difficult to carry out a death sentence.
“The state can not get the drug cocktail that we use to lethally inject someone and pharmaceutical companies don’t want to be associated with that.”
Green’s bill will be heard in the legislative session that begins April 10th. Governor John Bel Edwards said in a recent interview that he also opposes the death penalty.
The legislation would not apply to individuals already on death row.
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