Edwards asks pardon board to reconsider clemency for La.’s death row inmates
14th August 2023 · 0 Comments
By Greg LaRose
Contributing Writer
(lailluminator.com) — Gov. John Bel Edwards is pressing members of the state pardon board to reconsider the fate of 56 individuals facing death sentences in Louisiana, putting him at odds with an opinion from Attorney General Jeff Landry that says the board can’t take up the cases.
The condemned men, all held at the state penitentiary in Angola, have collectively asked the Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole, along with the governor, to convert their death sentences to life imprisonment. Edwards has recently made public overtures in opposition to capital punishment, citing his pro-life religious beliefs.
Landry’s opinion, which does not have the force of law, said pardon board procedures do not allow members to consider clemency requests more than a year after a convicted defendant has exhausted their appeals in court.
In a letter Edwards sent Tuesday (August 8) to the Board of Pardon, the governor said Landry’s interpretation of the one-year limit on clemency appeals is “not logical” because no such prescriptive period exists for non-death penalty applicants.
“The rule, as written, simply does not prevent the Board’s consideration of these applications at this time,” Edwards wrote.
In a statement, Loren Lampert with the Louisiana District Attorneys Association disagreed with the governor’s interpretation of pardon board policy under state law.
“… Asking the Board to violate this unambiguous and properly promulgated rule is inappropriate and a direct affront to the victims and their families,” Lambert said.
While consistent in his views against abortion, the governor’s opinion on the death penalty had until recently been elusive. He finally made his opposition to it clear earlier this year, ahead of a failed attempt to ban executions in the state.
In comments to reporters before qualifying for the governor’s race, Landry doubled down on his staunch opposition to Edwards’ stance on the death penalty.
“What’s amazing to me is the governor’s out there right now, trying to circumvent the pardon and parol system,” Landry said. “He’s trying to circumvent a constitutional-created body — to basically try to give clemency or reprieve to criminals who have committed some of the most heinous crimes in this state, over which every one of those people on death row have had a jury of peers convict them not once, but twice,” referring to jury decisions on guilt and sentencing.”
Louisiana hasn’t carried out an execution in 13 years, all while spending millions of dollars annually on the defense of condemned individuals. In 2022 alone, the state devoted $7.7 million to death row court cases, according to the Louisiana Public Defender’s Office.
In response to the governor’s letter to the parole board, other death penalty opponents are pressing its members to consider the 56 clemency appeals. Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans was among those voicing support for Edwards’ actions.
I. King Alexander, with Louisiana Conservatives Concern-ed About the Death Penalty, said in a statement that the state constitution gives the governor authority to request clemency reviews. In his letter, Edwards noted there have been six exonerations and more than 50 reversals in death penalty cases in Louisiana.
“Louisiana’s history with the death penalty gives the Governor good reason to ask the Clemency Board to review the state’s death penalty cases,” Alexander wrote.
The pardon board’s next meeting is Monday. Its agenda includes the consideration of clemency applications, although it wasn’t immediately clear whether any of the 56 death penalty cases would be discussed in light of the governor’s letter.
Senior reporter Julie O’Donoghue contributed to this report.
This article originally published in the August 14, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
