Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
Despite remaining a legal penalty, there have been no executions in Louisiana since 2010, and no involuntary executions since 2002. Execution protocols are tied up in litigation due to a 2012 lawsuit challenging Louisiana's lethal injection procedures. In addition, certain pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers do not want their products associated with capital punishment, meaning the state has been unable to obtain lethal injection drugs. Despite this, a 2018 survey by the Louisiana State University found that the majority of Louisianan citizens still support capital punishment.[1] The most recent execution was of Gerald Bordelon, who waived his appeals and asked to be executed in 2010. He is the only person to have been executed in Louisiana since 2002.[2]
On March 5, 2024, Governor Jeff Landry signed a law allowing executions to be carried out via nitrogen gas and electrocution. The law has opened the door for Louisiana to resume capital punishment after a fourteen-year hiatus.[3]
- ^ Deslatte, Melinda (February 3, 2020). "Louisiana executions stall for a decade amid legal quandary". ABC News. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Copp, Dan (May 13, 2021). "Will the first Lafourche death sentence in decades get carried out? Louisiana Supreme Court weighs arguments". The Houma Courier. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Finn, James (March 5, 2024). "Jeff Landry signs bills to expand Louisiana death penalty, eliminate parole". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. Archived from the original on March 6, 2024. Retrieved March 6, 2024.