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Governor John Bel Edwards Directs Louisiana Board to Consider Death Row Clemency Petitions and Set Hearings [1]

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Date: 2023-08

On August 9th, with the use of his executive authority, Governor John Bel Edwards (pictured) asked the Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole to return the 56 clemency applications filed by death-sentenced prisoners in Louisiana to its docket for consideration and set them for hearings. The Board of Pardons will now have until January 2024, when Gov. Edwards officially leaves office, to decide whether to recommend clemency for nearly all of the state’s death row prisoners. Earlier this year, Gov. Edwards expressed his opposition to capital punishment, stating that “the death penalty is so final. When you make a mistake, you can’t get it back. And we know that mistakes have been made in sentencing people to death.” Gov. Edwards, who has the authority to sign off on clemency requests, asked the board to consider the applications despite Attorney General Jeff Landry’s advisory opinion that none of the individuals are eligible for clemency. AG Landry, who is running to replace Gov. Edwards, has argued that the clemency applications are untimely.

In his letter to the Board, Gov. Edwards emphasizes that any prisoner who receives clemency would receive a life without parole sentence and would never be released, absent a finding of factual innocence. He writes that while he has the Constitutional authority to issue temporary reprieves and stays of execution, a commutation requires a Board recommendation. With respect to AG Landry’s advisory opinion, Gov. Edwards writes that “to read the rules to prohibit a capital applicant from asking the Board for clemency at any time outside of the one-year window after a direct appeal denial is misguided and yields a result that is both absurd and illogical. The rule, as written, simply does not prevent the Board’s consideration of these applications at this time.”

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[1] Url: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/governor-john-bel-edwards-directs-louisiana-board-to-consider-death-row-clemency-petitions-and-set-hearings

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