Most Louisiana Death-Row Inmates File for Clemency

The Economist: “A final term gives a politician an opportunity for courage. John Bel Edwards, Louisiana’s lame-duck Democratic governor, seemed to be seizing it when he announced his opposition to the death penalty in a conversation on faith and leadership at Loyola University, a Jesuit college, in March. In a state where Donald Trump trounced Hillary Clinton in 2016 and easily captured the eight electoral-college votes in 2020, most voters have long approved of putting inmates to death. Despite newfound support from the outgoing governor, a bill to ban the practice died in committee in May. Abolishing it, Republicans and prosecutors argued, would incentivize murderers to go rogue.”

“Mr Edwards’s political bravery is now being put to the test. On June 13th, 51 of the state’s 57 death-row inmates filed for clemency (the other six chose not to do so). A governor-appointed parole board will hear their cases one by one—the defence has just 15 minutes to argue for the life of each inmate—and could recommend that the governor swap out capital punishment for life imprisonment without parole.”