In next month’s special session on crime, Governor Jeff Landry will push for Louisiana lawmakers to find new ways to hand out capital punishment like Alabama. He says death penalty cases can be lengthy and cost the state millions.
Alabama became the first state to use nitrogen gas as a new method to execute a death-row prisoner last week. Landry opposed granting clemency to more than 50 death row inmates last year.
To increase public awareness of police misconduct in the state, The ACLU of Louisiana has launched a comprehensive dashboard of police killings and violence. ACLU Data Analyst Elijah Appelson says they created the dashboard to increase accessibility to the data and amplify the voices of individuals who are victims of police violence.
A third reason for the dashboard is to ensure police accountability.
The daughter of former four-term Governor Edwin Edwards is telling her story in the book The Life and Times of a Governor’s Daughter. Brooke Thorington has more.