The House Criminal Justice Committee passed a bill to end the death penalty amid an intense debate that got personal at times. Bill author New Iberia Representative Terry Landry took some harsh criticism, but held firm to belief that racial disparities in arrests and sentencing, and the number of death sentences that have been overturned justify ending the practice…
Cut 6 (12) “…for you.”
But some members of the public opposing the legislation took issue with Landry’s, and other’s accusation that discriminatory policing effects the integrity of the death penalty. Death penalty proponent Michelle Perkins went after the New Iberia Democrat…
Cut 7 (12) “…Louisiana.”
_______________________________________
A House panel green lights a bill to eliminate the need for inspection stickers. Jeff Palermo has the story…
Cut 1 (29) “I’m Jeff Palermo”
A bill setting the minimum age for marriage in Louisiana to 18 cleared a Senate committee. Supporters cited instances in Louisiana where judges in rural towns were allowing children as young as 12 to get married to adults, as long as the children had their parent’s signatures, and noted that the State Department classifys child marriage as a human rights abuse. It passed unanimously, but there were concerns the legislation would tread on religious tradition involving marriage between two young people.