From a sidebar to a
story in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, here's a summary of the just-passed sentencing reforms from the Bayou State aimed at reducing their nation-leading incarceration rate:
Changes to Louisiana sentencing and parole laws in 2012
Amid increasing attention to Louisiana's world-leading incarceration
rate, the 2012 Legislature adopted and Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed
several measures that alter the state's sentencing and parole laws,
primarily for nonviolent offenders whose crimes involved drugs or
property. The Louisiana Sentencing Commission recommended nearly all of
the changes. They include:
-
Merger of separate pardon and parole boards (House Bill 518):
Two members will be added to the five-member pardon board, and the
seven-person panel, sitting as a "parole committee," will decide whether
to release eligible prisoners on parole. The existing parole board will
cease to exist.
-
Discretion on mandatory minimums (House Bill 1068):
Prosecutors, defendants and judges are given authority to make
pre-trial plea agreements or post-trial sentencing agreements that call
for lesser punishment than the minimum required in existing criminal
statutes.
-
Parole for nonviolent, second-time offenders (House Bill 1026):
Certain second-time offenders, excluding those whose crimes were sexual
in nature, could be eligible for a parole hearing after serving
one-third of their sentences, rather than the current requirement of
one-half.
-
Parole for nonviolent offenders sentenced to life (House Bill 543):
Certain nonviolent, good-behavior, low-risk lifers will be eligible for
release earlier, including for the first time those sentenced to life
without the possibility of parole. The change excludes anyone whose
crimes were sexual in nature. Inmates who were sentenced between the
ages of 18 and 24 must serve at least 25 years to be eligible. Those
sentenced between ages 25 and 34 must serve at least 20 years. Those
sentenced between ages 35 and 49 must serve at least 15 years. Those
sentenced at age 50 or older must serve at least 10 years.
-
Expanded re-entry courts (House Bill 521):
A pilot court program that assists released nonviolent offenders with
job training and other re-entry issues will be expanded into two new
judicial districts.
-
Streamlined discipline for offenders on probation (House Bill 512):
In certain instances, officers will be able to use administrative
sanctions to discipline offenders without taking them back to court.
See another
summary of the legislation from Pardon Power.
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1 comment:
You see this list and wonder why people who support execution are so leery of dropping it as an option in favor of life without parole. The entire point of LWOP is that offender was judged to have committed a serious enough offense that they are not deserving of even a hearing to later plead their case that they have changed. I find it very disturbing that the La. legislature would turn its back on such a promise to the people. To say that someone sentenced to spend the rest of their life in prison could have a hearing that the people were promised would never be available after as little as 10 years is madness. I don't find it particularly relevant that they are limiting the set of eligible offenders today, without blow-back over such a provision the set will only expand.
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