Capitol punishment’s debate and delay
26th December 2018 · 0 Comments
By Nayita Wilson
Contributing Writer
Should capital punishment, as mandated by state law, continue or be discontinued in Louisiana?
The last executions administered in Louisiana took place in 2000, 2002 and 2010. Tyler Feltus, Black male, died by lethal injection in 2000 for robbery and murder. Martin Leslie Dale, white male, died by lethal injection in 2002 for rape and murder. Gerald Bordelon, white male, died by lethal injection in 2010 for rape, murder and kidnapping of his 12-year-old step daughter.
According to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections (DPSC), seventy adults are currently on death row in Louisiana – 69 men and one woman. It costs taxpayers $64.18 per day to house inmates at Angola, the state’s penitentiary, and the average stay on death row in Louisiana is 17 years.
One group, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, is advocating that the death penalty is not aligned with conservative principles such as the value of life and limited government and is challenged on matters of innocence and racial discrepancies/victim bias. The organization has 13 chapter throughout the U.S. and is launching a chapter in Louisiana.
Hannah Cox, national manager for Conservatives Concerned, said the group is focused on educating people about the organization’s mission and has no plans to get involved in the Louisiana’s 2019 legislative session.
“Concerned Citizens does not think the death penalty can be fixed. We don’t think it is a constitutional system, and we certainly don’t think it’s something that’s being applied in a manner that’s consistent with our beliefs,” Cox said.
According to the Louisiana District Attorney’s Association (LDAA), the death penalty is mandated by state law and is supported by its members.
E. Pete Adams, executive director of LDAA, said: “When the law provides for and juries demand capital punishment for certain offenses and offenders, our members will adhere to their oaths and follow the law.”
“The LDAA has opposed abolishing or suspending capital punishment in Louisiana. We do not believe that the arguments in favor of such are compelling enough to make that change.”
The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) provides data and analyses on issues surrounding capital punishment. DPIC also maintains an online execution database and provides access to the Epsy File – a database of more than 15,000 executions that have taken place in the U.S. since the 1600s.
Per the Epsy File, from 1722 to 1795, Louisiana enforced the death penalty for crimes of: theft; murder; desertion; slave revolt; attempted murder; treason; and counterfeiting. The death penalty methods used during this period included breaking on wheels, hanging, shot, other and unknown.
From 1808 to 1899, Louisiana enforced the death penalty for cases of: slave revolt; attempted murder; piracy; poisoning; arson; robbery and murder; unknown crime; murder and burglary; housebreaking and burglary; rape; and rape and murder. The death penalty methods used during this period included hanging, other and unknown.
From 1900 to 1941, Louisiana enforced the death penalty for cases of: attempted rape; robbery and murder; murder; rape; kidnapping; murder and burglary; burglary and attempted rape; housebreaking and burglary; murder and burglary; rape and robbery; attempted murder; murder, rape and robbery; rape and murder; and arson and murder.
From 2000 to 2010, Louisiana enforced the death penalty in three cases that involved: robbery and murder; rape and murder; and rape, murder and kidnapping. The state administered the executions by lethal injection.
Between the 1950s and 1970s, several states ended the death penalty, the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional and then reinstated it, according to ProCon.org.
At the time of this report, there have been 1,490 executions in the U.S. since 1976 according to DPIC’s Facts about the Death Penalty report. Among the executed: 830 (55.7 percent) were white; 509 (34.2 percent) were Black; 127 (8.5 percent) were Hispanic; and 24 (1.6 percent) were other.
Among the victims in death penalty cases since 1976: 76 percent were white; 15 percent were Black; seven percent were Hispanic; and two percent were other. DPIC reports that “Over 75 percent of the murder victims in cases result in an execution were white, even though nationally only 50 percent of murder victims generally are white.”
The report also noted that in Louisiana, the “odds of a death sentence were 97 percent higher for those whose victim was white than for those whose victim was Black.” Further, there have been more than 160 death row exonerations since 1973, including 11 exonerations from Louisiana.
Currently, no executions are scheduled in Louisiana. “The drugs used to carry out executions are unavailable. At this time, the Department of Corrections is unable to administer executions,” said Ken Pastorick, DPSC communications director.
This unavailability, according to Pastorick, is part of a broader national issue, as some pharmaceutical companies don’t want their drugs, some of which are administered to inmates for medicinal purposes, included in the formula used for lethal injection.
Per Louisiana Revised Statue 14:30, individuals convicted of first degree murder can be sentenced to death or life imprisonment with hard labor and without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence as determined by a jury.
First degree murder is the “killing of a human being.” This includes, but is not limited to committing murder when the offender has the specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm: during the commission or attempted commission of certain; when the victim is a fireman, peace officer, civilian employee of the Louisiana State Police officer or forensic laboratory employee engaged in official duties or when the crime is related to specific duties; when there are multiple victims; when the offender has been offered, given or received anything for the killing; when the victim is under the age of 12 or over the age of 65; while engaged in the distribution, sale or exchange of certain controlled substances; when an offender has been ordered by a judge or magistrate to not contact the victim and the order is in place during the time of the murder; when the victim was witness to a crime or the immediate family member of the witness; when the murder was committed to prevent or influence testimony in a criminal proceeding; when the murder was committed as retribution for the victim’s prior testimony; when the victim was a taxicab driver carrying out employment duties during the crime; and when the victim is a correctional facility employee carrying out official duties.
The statute can be read it its entirety at www.legis.la.gov.
This article originally published in the December 24, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
