Death Penalty Litigation Dismissed, Time for Louisiana to Fulfill Its Promises to Victims of State’s Most Heinous Crimes: AG Jeff Landry

Published 7:22 am Friday, April 1, 2022

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BATON ROUGE, LA – This week a federal judge in Louisiana dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the State’s execution methods. In response to this ruling in Hoffman v. Jindal, Attorney General Jeff Landry issued the following statement:
“The pursuit of justice for the victims of our State’s most heinous crimes is no longer restricted by Hoffman legal obstacles. Now, the Legislature may act to fulfill the promises our State has made to those crime victims and remove any other obstacles to carrying out the sentences imposed and affirmed by the courts.

Louisiana has the ability to join neighboring states like Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Missouri in carrying out long-awaited justice for crime victims and their frustrated families. I reaffirm my pledge to work with our legislators to find a way to swiftly honor the commitments our State made to those victim families. Our criminal justice system, the rule of law, and the rights of victims are too important to delay executions any longer.”

In 2018, Attorney General Landry drafted proposed legislation that would expand the methods of execution and expand confidentiality protections – tracking changes made by other states who hold victims’ rights sacrosanct. This year – Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas have enforced their death penalty laws. In 2020 – Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas did the same.