Louisiana’s outgoing governor has pardoned 40 convicted murders in the final three months of his rule in a bid to end the state’s unwelcome reputation as the most incarcerated in the nation.
John Bel Edwards, the only Democrat governor in the South, will leave office on January 8, after serving the maximum of two four-year terms.
The 57-year-old lawyer has made reducing Louisiana’s prison population a priority.
Per capita, Louisiana locks up more people than any other democracy on earth, with 1,094 people per 100,000 behind bars, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. By comparison, the U.S. as a whole locks up 664 per 100,000; the U.K only 129.
In 2017, Edwards signed into law a bill that has shortened some prison sentences; kept certain nonviolent offenders out of prison; expanded eligibility for parole and provided more money to educate and train ex-offenders.
And since October, he has pardoned 56 inmates statewide – including 40 convicted murderers.
John Bel Edwards, who steps down as governor of Louisiana in January, has pardoned 56 people since October – including 40 murderers
Anthony Riggins is seen during a hearing to try and win his release from prison
Venson Dean Vampran is pictured with his attorney trying to win his freedom from prison
Among those released was a man who was only seven hours from being given the electric chair for the April 1983 murder of a taxi driver.
David Rushing, of New Orleans, was 18 when he confessed to trying to rob a convenience store and a gas station, but, thwarted, then calling a cab and shooting dead the driver, Danny Archer.
He was sentenced to death, but his lawyers successfully appealed, citing prosecutorial misconduct and an ineffective defense.
Another pardoned by Edwards was Anthony Riggins, who shot and killed an unarmed 68-year-old shopkeeper, Peter Davenhauer, in the New Orleans suburb of Gretna.
Riggins was convicted in November 1977.
A third of the convicted murders, Venson Dean Vampran, was found guilty of killing hitchhiker Mark Bass in October 1984 and raping his wife, Susan Bass. He was 25.
Others released by Edwards in the last three months include armed robbers, drug dealers and an arsonist.
Edwards told Nola.com that he was concerned his Republican successor, Jeff Landry, would undo his prison and justice reforms.
Landry, the current attorney general, campaigned on locking more people up, cutting taxes and reducing government regulation. He has also pledged to force district attorneys to prosecute more people, and seek tougher sentences.
But Edwards said he was proud of his work over the last eight years.
‘When I leave office, the state of Louisiana will be better than it was when I took office,’ he said, citing low unemployment, infrastructure projects, green energy, and an increase in access to healthcare.
Edwards said he felt his moves to reduce the prison population were a step in the right direction.
‘For as long as I can remember, Louisiana reflexively responded to an increase in crime by putting more people in prison and keeping them there longer,’ he said.
‘We’ve never been made safer as a result of that. There is no data to suggest that an increase in crime here was because of the reforms.’
Edwards will step down in January after eight years as governor – the last Democrat governor in the South
Louisiana locks up more people per capita than any other democracy in the world
In April, Edwards used his last State of the State address to call for an end to the death penalty.
Louisiana has not executed anyone for 15 years, and currently has 57 people on death row.
Edwards said the death penalty ‘doesn’t deter crime; it isn’t necessary for public safety; and more importantly, it is wholly inconsistent with Louisiana’s pro-life values as it quite literally promotes a culture of death.’
Landry, his successor, is an enthusiastic proponent of the death penalty, and is likely to start using it immediately.
‘Look, this is ridiculous,’ Landry told a radio host in June.
‘We haven’t executed anyone since 2010. All of the states around us are holding executions, and doing a lot better in the crime metrics than Louisiana.’
Neighboring Texas is the only state to have held executions in 2023, and it had the second highest number of murders in the country in 2022, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report.
Landry said Louisiana made a ‘promise’ to execute those prisoners, Rolling Stone reported, and must uphold that promise.
‘Every time we don’t uphold our end of the contract or our promises, it’s a further eroding of trust between our citizens and the government,’ he said.
Jeff Landry will take over from Edwards as governor in January, and has said combatting violent crime will be a priority
Landry has said that combatting violent crime will be a priority when he takes over.
On Tuesday, Landry tweeted about the New Year’s Eve telecast being cancelled in New Orleans, amid crime concerns.
‘This is the sad reality of the city of New Orleans right now. No one feels safe,’ he wrote.
‘I look forward to holding our special session on crime and bringing back law and order to our streets.’
A new report by MoneyGeek, published on Friday, analyzed the cost of violent crime – murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – and found that New Orleans was the second worst, among large cities.
Only Birmingham, Alabama, was worse. Third was St. Louis, Missouri; fourth was Detroit, Michigan; and fifth was Memphis, Tennessee.
Birmingham didn’t have the highest rate of violent crime, however. Memphis, Detroit, and Little Rock, Arkansas all saw more violent crimes per capita.
Louisiana also fared poorly among small cities in terms of the cost of violent crime: Monroe was worst, with Alexandria fifth and Houma in eighth position.
Landry has said he intends to call the legislature into a special session on crime, but he’s yet to bring forward an agenda or any proposals for lawmakers to consider, Louisiana Illuminator reported last month.
An inmate is pictured in Angola prison in Louisiana – nicknamed Alcatraz of the South
Angola prison, the largest maximum-security site in the country, is named after the former plantation that occupied this territory. That in turn was named for the African country that was the origin of many enslaved Africans brought to Louisiana
On his campaign website, Landry states: ‘Crime in Louisiana is out of control. Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Shreveport are three of the top ten most dangerous cities in the country.
‘Things will not get better until we have leaders who have the courage to stand up and make it a priority.
‘As governor, Jeff Landry will prioritize safety in our communities and continue to be a leading voice on public safety in our state.’
Landry states on his campaign website that he intends to hire more police officers, and empower them to make more arrests.
‘We must close the revolving door of criminals who commit a crime, get caught, go to jail for a brief period, and re-offend,’ he said.
‘This cycle of “catch & release” is unacceptable.
‘Some individuals can be rehabilitated while in prison and return as contributing members of society — others cannot. We will work to identify those who should not be on the streets and do everything within our power to keep them in prison.’