Latest news with #LouisianaStateConstitution
Black America Web
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Black America Web
Louisiana Senate Vetoes Retrial Bill For People Convicted By Split Juries
Source: HPphoto / Getty The Louisiana Senate reaffirmed its commitment to Jim Crow-era practices this week by vetoing a bill that would've allowed incarcerated people convicted under split jury verdicts to seek a retrial. According to AP, the bill failed on a 9-26 vote that fell along party lines. The bill was authored by state Sen. Royce Duplessis (D) and would've added split jury convictions to the list of claims an incarcerated person could seek a retrial. There are an estimated 1,500 men and women currently incarcerated in Louisiana as a result of split jury convictions, 80 percent of whom are Black. 'If we choose to vote down this bill, we're saying that justice has an expiration date,' Duplessis told his colleagues during debate over the measure. 'We have an opportunity in Louisiana to remove this stain, because right now we are the only ones wearing it.' Split jury convictions were found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2020, which acknowledged the racist origins of the practice and found it violated defendants' constitutional rights. At the time of the ruling, the only states that still allowed them were Oregon and Louisiana. For its part, Oregon's Supreme Court voted in 2022 to allow the then-400 people incarcerated through split jury convictions to seek a retrial. Conversely, the Louisiana Supreme Court voted to reject retroactively applying the Supreme Court's decision that same year. Split jury convictions were a cornerstone of Jim Crow policies and were inherently designed to uphold white supremacy. This isn't an opinion; split jury convictions were introduced in 1898 in the Louisiana State Constitution, a framework explicitly designed to 'reestablish the supremacy of the white race,' after the Civil War. Source: Kansuda Kaewwannarat / Getty Split jury convictions in particular were implemented to ensure that even if Black people were on a jury, their voices wouldn't sway the outcome of a case. This was a multilayered tactic as it allowed Black people to be convicted of felonies under questionable circumstances, which in turn would strip them of their voting rights. These verdicts were and still are used to strip Black people of both their freedom and political power. Knowing that history, it's hard not to look at the Louisiana Senate with a significant amount of side-eye. Their arguments against the measure were incredibly shallow, stating that they didn't want to overburden the courts and district attorneys. They choose not to rectify an explicitly racist, unconstitutional tactic…because of court scheduling. I would respect it more if they stopped playing in our faces and just said the quiet part out loud. Those in favor of the bill countered that it wouldn't automatically allow for a retrial; it simply would've provided a pathway for those incarcerated under split jury convictions, and that retrials would be granted under the discretion of the district attorneys. The fact that this move came as the Louisiana House of Representatives passed an anti-DEI bill that was widely viewed by the Black caucus as racist just goes to show how regressive the Louisiana state legislature is across the board. Making the veto even more egregious is the fact that a recent poll showed that the majority of Louisiana voters were in favor of the measure passing. So this clearly wasn't about doing what was in the best interest of their constituents. It was about reminding Black people how little their freedom matters to those in power. Whether it's 1898 or 2025, the playbook remains the same, and sadly, Louisiana will have to continue wearing this stain. SEE ALSO: Trump Administration Targets DEI Initiatives at Colleges California Teen Spurs Outrage With Racist Promposal SEE ALSO Louisiana Senate Vetoes Retrial Bill For People Convicted By Split Juries was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers seek to expand juvenile felonies through Louisiana constitutional amendment
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A proposed change to the Louisiana State Constitution would allow the Louisiana Legislature to expand the list of juvenile criminal offenses leading to adult prosecutions. Advocates in the juvenile justice community oppose constitutional amendment 3, allowing legislators to remove the list of 16 crimes that already require automatic transfer from the juvenile to the adult judicial system and instead add and define felonies as they see fit. Under Louisiana law, if committed by juveniles, the following offenses cause a referral to criminal district court. Watch: Confronting the Plague of Juvenile Crime First-degree murder Second-degree murder Manslaughter Aggravated rape Armed robbery Aggravated burglary Aggravated kidnapping Attempted first-degree murder Attempted second-degree murder Forcible rape Simple rape Second-degree kidnapping A second or subsequent aggravated battery A second or subsequent aggravated burglary A second or subsequent offense of burglary of an inhabited dwelling A second or subsequent felony-grade violation involving the manufacture, distribution or possession with intent to distribute controlled dangerous substances Amendment 3 seeks to change Louisiana law to allow additions to that list with a two-thirds vote of the legislature rather than through a constitutional amendment. Youth justice advocates like Kristie Rome, the Louisiana Center for Children's Rights Executive Director, disagree. Rome explained that in her work with the public defense for juveniles in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, as well as other entities supporting youth offenders, she says that any amendment that ignores data and does not address the root issues related to juvenile offenses is not moving Louisiana in the right direction. Lawmakers say this is needed because the nature and frequency of crimes committed by juvenile offenders is expanding and becoming more brazen. They argue that removing the list from the constitution will allow them to address the changes in criminal behavior more swiftly and in alignment with what the public wants. 'We are so staunchly opposed to any proposed legislation that doesn't address root causes, doesn't get us towards solutions, but instead just continues to lock kids up without addressing what's happening in their lives,' Rome said. She believes that the legislature is attempting to rewrite the rules of engagement with limited public discourse, input or understanding. 'A drive-by shooting is an attempted murder, and I can tell you as someone who has practiced law for 14 years, that when a person commits a drive-by shooting, they are charged with attempted murder, and if there were 15 people out there, they are charged with 15 counts of attempt murder,' Rome said. With that level of specificity in the state's criminal law, Rome questions if lawmakers have considered the necessity of this change. 'I think your question goes to what the public's question really should be, and it goes to how we're continuing to see our legislature act with smoke and mirrors and not be transparent with us, and it's, it's, it's unclear whether it is just pure ignorance from our legislature or whether it is really intentionally hiding the ball from us.' Another consideration that lawmakers, in a rush to fulfill campaign promises, sometimes overlook is the unintended consequences of laws. Adding to the list of offenses because of political pressure, personal experience, prolonged media coverage of crimes, or other reasons could negatively affect police and sheriff's departments and our state court systems. 'I don't think that the voters understand or that it has been explained or even thought through well, and one major cost is going to be the cost of housing children. So under federal law, young people, when placed in an adult jail, must be sight and sound separated from other incarcerated adults,' Rome explained. Under federal law, teens should be segregated from adults in prison. If someone is under 18 in an adult prison, they must be on a separate tier. They cannot be held where adults are being held. 'The cost to our sheriffs, particularly our in our rural parishes, is going to be monumental,' Rome said. 'It is going to completely change how the sheriff's offices operate, and oftentimes in our rural parishes, our sheriff's offices are already strapped for cash and already underfunded. And so it's going to make it so that our local jails become so overpopulated with people that we likely won't have anywhere to place them.' Releasing offenders due to a lack of space in jails could mean probation or early release for potentially violent offenders before their cases are resolved. When asked what she sees as the end goal of the legislation, she said, 'It's unclear, and I think it hasn't been thought through. And before we go to the voters and ask the voters to change the constitution, we should have our legislators thinking through things and clearly letting us know if we're still questioning, well, why is this needed? Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Residents file lawsuit challenging Louisiana constitutional amendments
BATON ROUGE, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A Louisiana attorney representing three residents seeking to challenge HB7 said his clients are challenging the bill that seeks to alter the state's constitution. Two teachers and a pastor filed a lawsuit on Monday that challenges the constitutionality of the proposed changes to the Louisiana State Constitution in the form of House Bill 7, which is slated for the March 29, 2025, ballot. Amending Louisiana's lengthy constitution was at the top of Governor Landry's agenda, and during a Legislative Special Tax Session in November 2024, HB 7 was passed. At the time, many in the legislature and others familiar with Louisiana politics decried what they believed was a rushed attempt by the governor and business entities to rewrite the state's governing document without a Constitutional Convention. The current version of the Louisiana Constitution was drafted over a three-year period during the 1970s. Teen's medical abortion puts Louisiana, New York leaders at odds as Landry signs doctor's extradition order According to the complaint, the governor's attempt at a constitutional convention was blocked by Republicans in the legislature. However, the governor used a special tax session in the fall to push HB7, which the three plaintiffs say will 'dramatically alter the constitution' with a wide range of disjointed alterations. The lawsuit highlights several issues with the amendment which is more than 100 pages including: Narrowing constitutional protections for church and union property Limiting local control over sale taxes Liquidating several education trust funds Deleting a fund supporting infant mortality programs Changing gendered pronouns in the constitution Potentially increasing taxes on take-out food Removing constitutional authorization for farmers and fishermen's programs According to the lawsuit, these changes are condensed into a one-sentence question that will appear on the March 29 ballot. The plaintiffs also point out that the ballot language contradicts the true meaning of the language in the amendment. They cite claims verbiage within the amendment would 'provide a permanent teacher salary increase,' however, the plaintiffs said, 'no teacher will be paid any more than they currently are due to this potential amendment, and some teachers may be paid less.' The plaintiffs are represented by Attorney William Most of Most & Associates a New Orleans-based law firm. 'Democracy only works if state officials are transparent with voters about what they are being asked to vote on. This proposed amendment flunks the basic honesty test,' Most said in a news release announcing the suit. Read the full lawsuit below: 2025-2-17-Petition-for-Injunctive-ReliefDownload The belief of the three residents bringing the lawsuit is that the ballot language fails to communicate the range of changes to the constitution that voters may find unappealing including eliminating constitutional protection for early childcare, STEM initiatives, and dyslexia training, programs that would impact more than 26K Louisiana students if the amendment passes. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
