Death penalty lives on in Louisiana after House committee rejects bid to end practice

The death penalty lives on in Louisiana.

On Wednesday, a House criminal justice committee narrowly defeated House Bill 101, by New Iberia Democrat Rep. Terry Landry, to abolish capital punishment.

The vote failed 8-9, losing by a single vote. The co-sponsor on the measure, Rep. Steve Pylant, R-Winnsboro, raised eyebrows when he cast a critical vote to kill his own legislation.

On the Senate side, Baton Rouge Sen. Dan Claitor, a Republican, proposed a near mirror image of the bill that had already gotten out of committee and was set for a vote in the full Senate, where he said he likely had enough support to move it through. But after the panel rejected the House bill, Claitor said he would not pursue the difficult vote. His bill, if successful in the Senate, would eventually have gone before the same House committee that rejected Landry's bill.

Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_4e6862b6-3b34-11e7-b244-8320effbfbc4.html