Lethal Injection

Louisiana, and many states who still have the death penalty, has adopted lethal injection as the preferred method of ending a predator's life.    There are problems with lethal injection, not the least of which is that manufacturers and pharmacies are loath to sell drugs to states that use them to end life.

The death penalty is a hot-button topic that comes up for discussion occasionally.  We've talked aout it before. During the first 20 years of my career, I was a parole officer for the state of Louisiana, both at the street level and as a manager.  I have seen evil, I am convinced that evil exists, and the only hope of a polite society is that we can identify and excise so that the rest of us can live our lives.  There are two ways to do this; incarceration or execution.  Some states have execution as an option, but it is increasingly hard to execute someone

So, our AG, Jeff Landry wants options.  Right now, lethal injection is the only legal way to kill a convicted felon.  Louisiana has 72 people on death row, and none has been added since 2010.  Think about that.  The newest member of the death row population has been there for eight years.

Attorney General Jeff Landry is pushing to expand methods for state executions from lethal injection to include nitrogen gas, hangings, firing squads and electrocution and to add more secrecy around carrying out the death penalty in Louisiana. 

Our governor, John Bel Edwards (hack, spit) is a Democrat who won't say if he is opposed or supports the death penalty.

Gov. John Bel Edwards has declined to say publicly whether he supports the death penalty, but his staff said he will consider Landry's proposal. "We will review his suggestions and hope to re-start a constructive dialogue," said Richard Carbo, spokesman for Edwards, in a written statement.  

I'd like to see a constructive dialogue as well.  I support the death penalty, but to keep someone on death row for decades is cruel.  Having it on the books ad not using it is political cowardice.  The governor won't tell us, but his actions are clearly obvious. 

The death penalty exists in Louisiana.  We should either use it or outlaw it.  Bel Edwards has done neither.  Hopefully, Landry's recommendations will move forward in the legislature, and more hopefully, next year we can elect a governor who won't waffle about this issue.