The governor of Louisiana has ordered a clemency test after 56 of the state’s 57 death row inmates filed simultaneous motions, just months before his term expired.
John Bel Edwards, a rare pro-life Democrat, has urged the predominantly Republican legislature to end the practice — and now the death penalty for 56 criminals could be reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The inmates in question include child rapists, including one who raped and killed a four-year-old, killers of civilians and police officers, and at least one member of a domestic terror group.
The state parole board ruled all of the requests impracticable after an advisory opinion from Attorney General Jeff Landy, a Republican who is believed to be the front runner to replace the incumbent Edwards in November’s election.
In Edwards’ letter to the board — all of which he appointed — he appealed to them both as a pro-life governor and as someone concerned about whether justice prevailed in each case.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has ordered a clemency trial after 56 of the state’s 57 death row inmates filed simultaneous motions, just months before his term expires
“Beyond moral justifications, there are a number of legal or scientific reasons that demonstrate the need for mercy in considering these motions,” he wrote.
“In the last 20 years, there have been six exonerations and more than 50 quashes of death sentences in Louisiana.”
Republican Jeff Landry, a Trump-backed conservative and pro-death-penalty advocate who wants to take over Edwards’ temp job this fall, says each of the death sentences was more than justified.
“The governor is out there right now trying to circumvent a constitutional parole and parole system,” Landry told NOLA.com.
“Each of these people on death row has been convicted not once, but twice by a jury of like-minded people.”
Landry rejected the idea of a pardon on the grounds that neither of them had petitioned within a year of the conviction, although Edwards believes he is wrong.
“The rule simply does not state that the application can only be submitted within that first year,” Edwards wrote.
The state parole board ruled all of the requests impracticable after an advisory opinion from Attorney General Jeff Landy, a Republican who is believed to be the front runner to replace the incumbent Edwards in November’s election
Kevin Daigle, 61, was convicted in 2015 of shooting and shooting State Police Officer Steven Vincent, who pulled him over to help Daigle after his car got stuck in a ditch. He was later charged with the murder of his roommate
The controversy goes beyond simple party lines: Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III, a Democrat, sided with Landry, arguing that Edwards was disrespectful to the victims.
“Today’s request from the governor has once again opened up deep wounds for the victims who thought this matter was settled,” Moore said in a statement. “When will this emotional rollercoaster end for these victims?”
Loren Lampert, the Republican executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, said the motions had to queue behind the current 440 motions.
“Every surviving victim and every family member of the victims of these horrific crimes collectively represents dozens of reasons why these cases should receive the greatest scrutiny, effort and time,” Lampert wrote.
Edwards, a devout Catholic, has received support from the Archbishop of New Orleans, the Innocence Project, and the Louisiana Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.
According to The Advocate, which first reported Tuesday’s filings, only two clemency petitions have been granted by Louisiana governors since the death penalty was introduced in the 1970s.
There are currently 60 people on Louisiana’s death row, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections told the Associated Press in late May.
Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, 28 people have been executed in Louisiana.
Nathaniel Code, 57, has been sentenced to death for four of at least eight murders he is suspected of including a child. He maintains his innocence, although some of his family members have called for his execution
Daniel Blank (pictured right in 1997), 61, is known as the River Parishes serial killer after being convicted of five murders of elderly people, including the killing of a 72-year-old woman. Attorneys unsuccessfully argued in the state Supreme Court that he had been coerced into confessing
But the last lethal injection came in January 2010, when the state executed Gerald Bordelon – a convicted sex offender who confessed to strangling his 12-year-old stepdaughter and declined an appeal.
According to the correctional authority, no execution dates have been set at this time.
However, other states practice the death penalty. According to the Washington, DC-based Death Penalty Information Center, 27 states have the death penalty and 18 inmates were executed last year.
In addition, some states are trying to reintroduce other methods of execution, such as firing squads, as an alternative to lethal injections after drug companies banned the use of their drugs.
Opponents of the death penalty in Louisiana argue that the penalty should be abolished due to the cost of execution, religious beliefs and racial differences.
According to the Capital Appeals Project, a disproportionately three-fourths of Louisiana’s death row inmates are people of color.
Critics also point out that there were frequent exonerations in Louisiana. Between 2010 and 2020, 22 death row inmates had their sentences reduced or exonerated, the Corrections Authority said.
Those who opposed the failed death penalty bill pleaded for justice for victims’ families, who believe it is the appropriate punishment for certain crimes.
“Reasonable Death Sentences”: Just some of the 56 men trying to escape from death row in Louisiana
Of the 57 inmates on the state’s death row who have filed concurrent applications, 56 are men convicted of heinous crimes, though many have appealed citing mental illness and coerced confessions.
Attorney General Jeff Landry has argued that all of these men received “appropriate death sentences” for their crimes.
Kyle David Joekel, 38, was found guilty of killing two sheriff’s deputies with an AK-47 in 2011 while allegedly being part of an anti-government group the FBI has classified as “domestic terrorists”.
Anthony Bell, 52, has been convicted of five counts of first-degree murder implicated in the killing of his estranged wife and four relatives. The state Supreme Court dismissed his previous pleas in law, which were based on undiagnosed bipolar disorder.
Jason Reeves, 48, was convicted of the 2001 rape and knife murder of a four-year-old girl. His defense attorney argued he suffered from personality disorders stemming from childhood sexual assault.
James Copeland, 63, was convicted with another man in July 1979 of the rape and murder of an 11-year-old boy. He’s been on death row longer than anyone in the state.
Kevin Daigle, 61, was convicted in 2015 of shooting and shooting State Police Officer Steven Vincent, who pulled him over to help Daigle after his car got stuck in a ditch. He was later charged with the murder of his roommate.
Nathaniel Code, 57, has been sentenced to death for four of at least eight murders he is suspected of including a child. He maintains his innocence, although some of his family members have called for his execution.
Daniel Blank, 61, is known as the River Parishes serial killer after being convicted of five murders of elderly people, including the killing of a 72-year-old woman. Attorneys unsuccessfully argued in the state Supreme Court that he had been coerced into confessing.