Following a legislative hearing where the death penalty was discussed, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards released a statement regarding is thoughts on the matter.
In the release, it states, Edwards “reiterated his previous statement on the death penalty today, following a Legislative hearing on the subject, in which neither the Governor’s Office nor the Department of Corrections were invited to participate.”
According to the Governor’s Office, “A federal judge has issued a stay of all executions in Louisiana, which has been previously supported by Attorney General Jeff Landry. Numerous pharmaceutical companies have refused to sell the state any of the drug compounds needed to carry out the state’s drug protocol.”
In response, Edwards said, “I took an oath to support the Constitution and laws of the United States and the state of Louisiana. The fact of the matter is that we cannot execute someone in the state of Louisiana today because the only legally prescribed manner set forth in state statute is unavailable to us. In the time since we last had this conversation, nothing has changed – the drugs are not available and legislation has not been passed to address concerns of drug companies or offer alternative forms of execution. That’s not through any fault of my own or the Department of Corrections. I’m not inclined to go back to methods that have been discarded because popular sentiment turned against them or maybe some methods that were deemed to be barbaric and so forth.”
In a report from The Advocate, it states “The House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee hearing on the death penalty was also facilitated by Attorney General Jeff Landry’s Office.”
The attorney general and the governor have been on completely opposite sides of this debate and have both been very vocal about their stance on the topic.
Back in July of 2018, Landry took to social media and shared a tweet stating, “This is simple: I support the death penalty - by lethal injection, gas, hanging and firing squad.”
Edwards, on the other hand has taken a hard stance against capital punishment.
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ELIZABETH WEST Managing Editor