The bill that would do away with capital punishment sentences in Louisiana advanced out of a Senate Committee by a vote of 6-1. Michelle Southern reports..:
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Even after New Orleans begins removing confederate statues, a state lawmaker plans to move forward with a bill to make it harder for local governments to take down monuments. Halen Doughty has more…
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On a 6 to 1 vote, a Senate Judiciary committee approves a proposal to abolish the death penalty in Louisiana. The bill by Baton Rouge Senator Dan Claitor would eliminate the death penalty for capital murder and aggravated rape cases after July 31. Bishop Shelton Fabre of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux says taking a life should be left to a higher power.
New Orleans Attorney Nick Trenticosta testifies 82 percent of death penalty sentences in Louisiana have been reversed, a rate he says is the highest in the country. He adds the death penalty doesn’t provide closure for the victims in these cases. Rev. Leo Cyrus of New Hope Baptist Church in Baton Rouge agrees.
The head of the Louisiana Public Defender Board says the state spent $91 million defending death penalty cases since 2008.
Speaking in opposition to the bill is Christie Battaglia [bat-tà-glia] whose father is on death row in Texas for shooting and killing his two other daughters when they were age 6 and 9. Battaglia says if her father ever happened to get out of jail, she would live in fear…:
Battaglia says she knows that some people are wrongly on death row, but that means there is a problem with the system and not that others don’t need to be executed. She says her father is an angry killer who will never change…:
(The lone nay vote was from Baton Rouge Senator Bodi White.)
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Two individuals from Orange, Texas have been arrested and one is still on the loose after allegedly tying up an elderly Starks man for hours and stealing his guns, cell phone and wallet. Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso says the victim was discovered when a food delivery showed up at his home.
Mancuso says 32-year-old Thomas Henson and 33-year-old Lea Pence were arrested and authorities are still searching for 43-year-old Michael Helmer, known as Mikey Irish. He says the three individuals face multiple charges including, cruelty to the infirmed and false imprisonment while armed with a dangerous weapon.
All three suspects have previous criminal records. Mancuso says in his opinion, these individuals stalked and took advantage of the elderly gentleman.
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A state lawmaker plans to move forward with her legislation designed to protect Confederate monuments, even though the process of removing them has begun in New Orleans. The Liberty Place monument was taken down early Monday morning, and the city also plans to remove three more confederate-era statues. Franklinton Senator Beth Mizell opposes what Mayor Mitch Landrieu is doing.
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That’s why Mizell will still seek passage of her bill, which requires the legislative approval before local government can remove any monument.
Mizell says the bill would not only protect confederate monuments. She says it includes memorials that have been in place over 25 years and any landmark on the National Register of Historical Places.
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Mizell says it’s unclear when her bill will get a hearing in the Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs, but it could be too late to save the monuments that the city of New Orleans plans to remove.
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The centerpiece to Governor John Bel Edwards’ tax plan fails to receive support from the House Ways and Means Committee and the legislative sponsor has decided to pull the legislation from further consideration. Franklin Representative Sam Jones says the Commercial Activity Tax proposal would provide a stable revenue stream for the state but the legislature doesn’t support it.
The CAT Tax as it was known, would’ve imposed a tax on transactions that businesses make and would’ve generated nearly 300 million dollars in state revenues. But the measure received stiff opposition from business groups, who says this tax would hurt the state’s business climate. President of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association Chris John…
Head of the anti-tax organization Gator PAC, Col. Rob Maness, says this tax policy encourages and allows Louisiana to spend more than the economy can sustain.
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